La Lune Bleu
by A. S. Rainwater
Summary: Bella has moved to the city to get away from Forks. She takes a gig giving guitar lessons on weekends for extra cash, in result meeting someone who might get her to change her loner ways... AH OOC femslash, please R&R! summary sucks, just try it out
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Bella, Alice, and the crew. I own only my ideas.**

**A/N: Hi! This is my first Bellice piece, I hope you guys like it. I was really excited by this idea, and I hope it comes out as well as it sounds in my head. I've been asked by a quite a few people to do this pairing, and I'm sure this won't be my last story starring these two. First chapter is more like a prologue, so please excuse the length. The chapters will get longer, I promise.**

**This story is dedicated to Hollowgo and Shabbacabba. You guys make my ego go BOOM. Thank you.**

It was raining. Again. Surprise, surprise. I had no real opinion about that, I was used to it, I had lived in the rain of Washington state every bit of my twenty-two years.

I turned away from the rain-splattered window pane that looked out over the street my apartment building towered over, sighing at the mess that I faced. There were boxes left untouched, boxes spilling newspaper and bubble wrap onto the cream-colored carpet of my living room. I had to get over the homesick feeling and just suck it up and accept the fact that I no longer lived in my security blanket of Forks, and I was indeed in Seattle, living alone in my own one-bedroom apartment.

I smiled as I sipped the black coffee in my hand. My father had finally married his long time girlfriend, Sue, and I felt it was best I move on, now that I was sure the house wouldn't burn to the ground in Dad's attempts at cooking for himself. Though he was a good man, and an honest cop, he was no great shakes in front of the stove.

I looked at the clock. It was almost nine. I sighed. I started my new job today, working as a sales manager at a music store in town, which was what I want to do to makes ends meet when I start school next year. After school... I plan to own my own music shop.

Music was my big brother growing up. It guided me, protected me, comforted me. It was my best friend, my vent, my shoulder. When I was ten, my dad bought me an acoustic Fender (which I named Love, as in Courtney Love, when I was fourteen) and bought me lessons on the weekends in Port Angeles. He made sure he was off every Saturday morning for three years, while I indulged my addiction. Because I was extremely addicted to strings rubbing my fingertips raw until they callused, and hearing the flow my hands could make from the lovely instrument in my embrace. I never had aspirations to be a huge rock star, or even be in a band. Guitar for me was personal, and I didn't want to share that piece of myself with the world, not for fame, glory, immortality, or money. It would feel like prostitution.

I set my coffee cup down on the table and moved to the hallway that led to my bedroom and its adjoining full bath. I had to be there at eleven for training, and I wasn't sure what the traffic would be like on the way there, so I figured the early bird could catch the worm. I maybe even had time for a biscuit from McDonald's.

I gathered my clothes for the day, smiling to myself when I remembered what the boss had said to me in my orientation, about how we didn't have uniforms because he strived to stay away from corporate policies. He was a private owner, and he was proud of it. All I had to wear was a name tag on a lanyard that hung around my neck. It was a beautiful thing to me that I could throw on a comfortable pair of worn out jeans and a band tee, and toss my Chucks on my feet and still be at work, making moolah on the clock.

Once I was freshly showered, hair pulled back into a low ponytail so that my Mariners fitted cap could actually _fit _my head, and aforementioned Chucks were tied securely to my feet, I grabbed my guitar case and locked the door as I made my way out. The hall and the elevator were both empty as I made my journey down to the wet street, and I set my guitar down long enough to pull up the hood on the sweatshirt I'd put on.

My truck was where I had left it parked behind the building in our fenced in lot, cold and quiet. The passenger door screamed in protest as I wrenched it open to stash my case inside, and I winced at the noise. My poor truck had been Dad's gift to me on my sixteenth birthday, bought from his best friend Billy, and rebuilt by Billy's son, an automotive repair child prodigy, and my best friend, Jacob. My heart twinged as I thought of Jake, with his warm eyes and white smile. That was another reason I had to leave Forks. Jacob had recently professed his undying love for me, despite the fact that I am, and have always been, a lesbian. He swore he didn't care if I loved him that way or not, he just had to tell me how he felt. I spaced from him after that, unable to be the catalyst for my best friend's broken heart. If I had the ability to be with a man, I was sure it would have been him... but it was not meant to be. And I couldn't hang around to watch him suffer. I refused. He accused me of being in love with her. Leah. I scoffed, because it wasn't true, but he would hear nothing of it, and threatened to tell my dad that I was fucking his girlfriend's daughter, my now step-sister.

Dad marrying Sue nipped that in the bud. Leah and I haven't spoken since the wedding. And Jacob let the issue go. I was safe in Seattle, away from my somewhat turbulent past in Forks.

Yes, safe in Seattle where no one knew me, no one had ever heard of Bella Swan, the police chief's daughter, the hellion, the rebel, the reject. No. No one knew me at all, and I was safe here.

**A/N: So, what did you think? I'm really nervous about writing this pairing, so be nice! lol **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nada Twilight. It's all the big S.M.'s stuff. I own ideas, nothing more...**

**A/N: Wow. Just... wow. Thank you guys for the positive feedback. I owe you guys this one. That's for sure. Here's the first chapter. Enjoy. :)**

_**Two Months Later:**_

"So... are you gonna eat that?"

I raised my head to those words, looking into Felix's almost black eyes, which were darting back and forth between me and my blueberry muffin that was getting cold on the napkin in front of me. I had been lost in my thoughts, hung over from the night before, and the stock boy who has been hot on my ass for a date materializes from nowhere, wanting my fucking muffin. No pun intended.

"I plan on it, yes," I said irritably, waving him away as if he were a fruit fly buzzing in my face. "Go make yourself useful. Build a drum set for that display or something."

"Jeez, Bella, what's crawled up your ass?" he scoffed, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest, but not moving from beside the table in the backroom.

"I drank a little too much last night, and I'm not feeling too great." I sighed, pushing my chair back from the table and grabbing my water bottle. "Go ahead. I guess I don't want the thing, after all." I walked away from him and my fucking muffin, pushing open the swinging door that led to the floor.

It was early morning, maybe eight-thirty, and we hadn't even unlocked the doors yet, so it was still quiet, devoid of the background music that played over the speaker system. Jimi Hendrix all day long. A girl could get used to that.

I wasn't the on-duty manager this morning, so the store and its operation weren't my worries for once. It was a Saturday, and I had talked my boss into letting me take clients in the store for guitar lessons. "It's good for business, Aro," I argued with the greasy Italian man, with his overly-friendly, almost-creeper like smile.

It didn't take much to convince him. "Of course, Bella!" Another creepy smile. I found myself wondering if this old man got his rocks off at night thinking about me. The thought made me want to gag.

It was only two days after putting up the sign advertising my services that a guy the size of a line backer came in, bought a junior guitar, and asked for me. He introduced himself as Emmett Cullen, and told me he wanted to pay for three sessions for his nephew for his birthday, he would pay me the cash up front. "That's sweet of you," I'd said to this bear of a man, who grinned a broad grin. "My dad did the same thing for me when I was a kid." I couldn't help but smile back at the guy. He may have been dressed in a Polo collared shirt and khaki slacks with shiny loafers, but he seemed a pretty laid back fella.

"Yeah, it's not every day you turn six years old," he'd replied, and I stopped as I reached for the six twenties he held in his hand. He frowned at my hesitation, and his hand slowly began to draw back, taking my potential electric bill money with him. "Is that a problem?" he asked, and I quickly shook my head.

"Not at all," I said weakly, and he grinned again, handing the money to me. "How about this Saturday morning, about nine-fifteen?"

"Sounds perfect. I can drop him off on my way to the gym, and his mom can pick him up on her way home from her morning yoga class." Oh, a healthy family. Lovely. I wondered if they were vegetarians.

"Can I just get his name and his mother's name?" I asked, pulling up my Notes app on my phone.

"Sure, it's C.J. Whitlock, and his mother's name is Alice."

"Also Whitlock?"

"No," he'd said shortly. "It's Cullen."

I gave a half glance at the defensive tone he took, thinking to myself that this was probably the big brother I had always wanted. "She's your little sister, huh?" I asked knowingly, thinking about how the older sibling always stuck up for the younger. Something told me that Emmett didn't care for C.J.'s father. I finished putting the information in my phone and slid it back in my pocket.

He looked surprised, then confused. "How'd you know that?"

"You're protective, big guy," I laughed, and his face slid back into that easy grin.

"You're right," he agreed with an enthusiastic nod, running a hand through his short dark hair. "I really am."

"Okay, well, I guess I'll see you here bright and early Saturday morning," I said, shaking his hand for the second time.

So now I sat waiting on Emmett and C.J. to show up for C.J.'s first lesson, spinning in a computer chair in the sound proof booth that Aro had erected in the back for people who wanted to test drive the rigs they wanted to purchase. It was perfect for me and one other person to play in, and the horror of the noise a novice can make on strings wouldn't bother any customers... or Aro. I needed this side gig for the moment, just to make up for the four hundred dollars I had to drop for my truck to resurrect from the dead. Stupid transmission.

At nine-fifteen on the dot, there was a knock on the booth door, and I looked up to see Emmett waving through the glass, his large hand on top of a blond head. I waved a hand for him to come on in, and he swung the door open wide, ushering in one of the cutest little kids I'd ever seen. He was so tiny, and his little blond head hung low, but his dark blue eyes looked up shyly, trying to be brave. He was dressed in a blue and white striped button down shirt, and crisp dark blue jeans, with bright white Nikes on his feet. He was very well kept, and I couldn't help but grin at how he blushed when Emmett clapped him on the shoulder and told him to introduce himself to the lady. He looked up at his uncle imploringly, and I chuckled, lessening his strain by beating him to it.

"Hi, you must be C.J. I'm Bella, your uncle told me you would be visiting me today," I said kindly, trying to help him relax. I saw his eyes dart over to the small children's guitar I had borrowed for these lessons, and back to me, licking his lips nervously.

"Hi," he said in a near whisper. Then he looked back up at Emmett with a pleading look. "Do you really have to go? Can't you stay just until Mommy gets here?"

"No, little dude, I have to be at the gym before your Aunt Rose shows up. You know how she gets," Emmett laughed. "You'll be okay, I don't think Bella will bite."

I crossed my heart. "Cross my heart and hope to die," I swore, and he giggled a little.

"Okay. But if you talk to Mommy, tell her not to forget me," he told his uncle, who nodded solemnly with a too-serious look on his face.

"Aye-aye, Captain. Have fun, learn something so you can play it for Aunt Rose later, okay?" Emmett shot me a playful wink. "My wife loves music, Bella. Show him how to blow her socks off."

"Got ya, big man," I assured him, and he left, giving a final wave.

C.J. looked at the door for a moment as if he might sprint after his uncle, but when I cleared my throat, his eyes shifted to me and he blushed guiltily, as if he knew he was caught thinking about it. I let it go and stood up, crossing the room to pick up the guitar I'd chosen for his tiny hands. "Your uncle says your birthday was this week," I said conversationally, still trying to calm him down.

He nodded, his eyes on the instrument in my hands, a longing deep in his pupils. I knew that look. I had it, once. He was going to be a lifer, just like me. And his first lesson was going to be from me. Sweet. "It was Thursday," he said quietly, surprising me. I didn't expect him to really reply. "My party is today, though, at my Grandma and Grandpa's house. There's a moon walk."

"That sounds fun," I said, opening my case and extracting my old acoustic. "What did you ask for, you know, for your birthday?"

"This," he answered simply, motioning to me and the guitar I was holding out to him. He took it from me as if it were made of glass, only he held it upside down. Or maybe...

"Are you right handed or left handed, C.J.?" I asked him, and he looked at me quizzically. I chuckled, with a tiny shake of my head. "Which hand do you write with?" I amended.

"This one," he replied, holding up his left hand. I grinned at the natural way he held the guitar, despite the strings being backwards for him.

"Okay," I sighed, taking the guitar from him, feeling a pang in my chest at the way his face fell.

"I can't play it if I write with this hand?" he asked, and I gave him a reassuring smile.

"Left handed people like you, and right handed people like me play with the strings reversed, because of the way we have to hold the guitar. See?" I showed him how the strings on my guitar and the one he was to play were the same. "This is a right handed guitar. It's called a standard. I'll just have to switch the strings, because I don't think we have a lefty junior guitar."

"Lefty," he murmured thoughtfully. "I'm a lefty?"

I nodded. "You are," I affirmed. He chewed on the inside of his cheek as I went about switching the strings for him.

He was well reserved and quiet for a child his age, and I found myself appreciating it when I thought about my high school friend Angela's little sister when she was that age. What a nightmare, that kid was. But C.J. waited patiently and silently as he watched me switch the strings around, though it took a good twenty minutes to switch them and then re-tune the guitar. These little junior deals were Satan for my long adult fingers, which engulfed nearly the entire neck of the thing, making the frets hopelessly tiny for my professional touch. "Sorry about the wait," I told him when I was finished and presenting him with it once more.

"That was cool," he said, looking at me with a bit of respect in his eyes. "Can you teach me that, too, Bella?"

I smirked, teasing him. "Maybe, if you're good and you can learn a song before we move on to maintenance."

"What song are you going to teach me?"

"What do you want to learn?"

" I want to learn 'Crazy Train', you know, like Ozzy!" he answered without missing a beat.

My mouth fell open. He knew who Ozzy Osbourne is? Wow, not what I would expect from a six year old at all. I quickly recovered, so I wouldn't embarrass him. "Well, technically it was Randy Rhoads, not really Ozzy that played the guitar for 'Crazy Train'," I informed him.

"Mommy said Ozzy does that song," he disagreed, shaking his head.

"Ozzy sings it," I corrected him, and he looked confused.

"I never cared who sings it, I wanted to know who played that guitar. It's my favorite song," he said with a light behind his blue eyes, and I found myself wondering if he would actually be able to learn it so soon. It was a complicated song. But maybe I could tweak it a little, make it somewhat simpler and have it still sound like the real thing.

"Let's try to learn some chords first," I said, choosing not to promise him anything just yet. "We'll talk about that next week, okay?"

"I'm coming back next week?" he asked, his eyes lighting up happily.

"And the week after," I agreed, nodding. "But let's get down to business, I've got to teach you something, or your uncle might unleash his muscles on me."

"Uncle Em won't beat you up," he said, and my mouth dropped open again. He knew what I meant. "I'll protect you," he added proudly. "He's scared of me."

After that, I spent the last hour of his lesson actually showing him things, and having him mimic and try to match my strokes with his pick. He stuck his tongue out of the side of his mouth when he concentrated, and it made me giggle at the intensity on his little face. This kid was special, and I could only imagine that concentration face as it evolved into a full-blown playing face as he grew older. Everything in me told me I was tutoring a future guitar god, and I gave him what I could to help him.

Near the end, I glanced up to the window of the booth, and nearly fell out of my chair with the resulting double take. _Oh. My. God._ She was beautiful. I lost my breath in the middle of the next inhale I tried to take, and my heart sputtered in my chest for a aplit second beofer going into the Star Wars' version of hyperspeed. You know, when all the stars become white swipes and blurs? Yeah, my heart started beating that fast.

She had deep black hair that spiked stylishly away from her head and her face, with its little pouty mouth and adorable up-turned nose. The way the corners of her mouth pulled, I could tell she was a dimpled little pixie, and I say pixie because she could barely see over the door inside the booth. She was smiling softly, her kind eyes resting solely on the boy in front of me, full of love, and I knew without a doubt that this was Alice, C.J.'s mother. I also knew without a doubt that I had never seen anyone so ceramically beautiful in my life, not even Leah, with her exotic Native American features.

Aphrodite was now knocking softly on the studio door, cracking it open and poking her head around it, cocking her face to one side as she smiled at me (melt at the dimples that indeed caved). "Am I interrupting?"

Her voice was like silk on my ears, and I felt it wrap around my head and felt a heat ignite in my gut before the words she spoke even registered to my brain, which had stopped working properly the moment I'd laid eyes on her. I realized I'd forgotten to breathe as well, as I was becoming somewhat light headed as I sat stock still, my mouth probably hanging wide. _Good god, Swan, _I scolded myself internally. _Close it before you drool, and for fuck's sake, breathe! Answer the woman!_

"N-no," I stuttered, stumbling to my feet, setting my guitar aside. "We were just finishing up," I added, a little more steady with my words.

"I'm Alice Cullen," she said with another smile, extending a tiny white hand to me, and I stared at it for a solid two seconds before I took it. I felt tingles rush up my arm and through my chest at the contact, and I could swear I saw her face flicker with a confused look before we released the handshake several seconds later. I looked her up and down, from her pale blue top to the black thigh length skirt, to her sexy calves that ended on petite feet, encased in black heels. She just came from yoga? I wondered vaguely if Emmett knew the difference between a yoga class and a runway. Because that's where it looked like she belonged.

"Bella Swan," I breathed, trying to shake myself out of the haze the handshake brought on.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ms. Swan," she said politely, but I shook my head at the title.

"Please, it's just Bella," I said. "The last name can belong to my step-mother."

Alice smiled again, all traces of what I had thought I'd seen gone for now. Up close I saw that C.J. had her eyes, her eyes exactly. They were the same shade of midnight blue. And as I stood over her by at least three inches, I saw he had gotten his size from her, as well. But the blond hair had to be his father, as it seemed his mother's side was all brunette. Emmett and Alice were easily brother and sister, they favored heavily enough to be fraternal twins. I felt my heart deflate a little when she turned her gaze from me and to her little boy, who looked between his mother and I with a knitted brow, probably wondering what the hell the little awkward moment was about. I identified. I wondered what the hell that was about, too.

"How was it, honey?" she said as she scooped her son to her and crushed him against her, kissing the top of his head.

"Great! Bella is going to teach me 'Crazy Train' next week!" he told her when she released him, and she looked at me with an eyebrow raised.

"I said we'd _talk about it_ next week," I reminded him, and he shrugged carelessly.

"You'll teach me, I know you will," he said confidently, and I smiled at how comfortable he'd become with me in such a short time. He looked back at Alice with a beaming smile. "Mommy, Bella can play really, really good. She played Pink Floyd for me!"

I found myself blushing as C.J. bragged on me to his mother, the red shade on my cheeks darkening even more when the older set of navy eyes fixed directly on my brown ones. "Oh, yeah?" she said interestedly, raising that eyebrow again (kill me now, that was sexy), biting her lip thoughtfully (_oooh god, why me?)_ as she studied me briefly, then looked back at C.J. with a tiny grin. "What song?" she asked him, and I felt she already knew the answer even before he gave it.

"She played 'Wish You Were Here'. I asked her to, because it's your favorite song."

Alice turned a little pink at the information. _Why would she blush about that?_ "That's really cool, sweetie. Can you be good and go look at the guitars while I talk to Bella just for a minute?" she asked him, sweet as sugar. I nearly fell out at the way my name sounded falling from perfection, in that lilting tone of hers. I imagined her whispering it in my ear, and gave a tiny, pleasurable shudder. The door shutting behind C.J. broke me free of my defining fantasy.

"How was he? Do you think he's genuinely interested in this or is it a phase?" She asked me the two things I'm sure I heard my dad ask my old teacher once.

"He was perfect," I answered honestly, and she looked at me so skeptically that I couldn't help but laugh. Her expressions were priceless. "I mean, he's no Stevie Ray Vaughn, yet. But that's the thing, 'yet' is an operative word here. I think he's met his first love. You should see the way he looked at the guitar when I handed it to him."

Alice nodded, a smile playing on her gorgeous lips, and I watched the tiny pink tip of her tongue peek out to moisten them. I couldn't help but to imagine kissing her. It drove me nuts that I couldn't just take her face in my hands and do just that.

"If he is still enjoying this, and developing, would it be possible to extend his lessons?" she asked me, and I nodded. _God, yes._

"I would be more than happy to keep him as a pupil. He has a fire in him, and an intelligence, that isn't common in your every day six year old." I looked out to the floor where C.J. stood in front of the wall of guitars, his hands clasped tightly behind his back, as if straining not to touch one. I made a gesture. "See how much torture it is for him to look at them, but not touch them? I was the same way at that age. But my dad didn't let me learn until I was a little older."

"Is it too soon?" she asked worriedly, glancing at C.J.

"Nah," I said, shaking my head. "He's ready. And I'm ready to teach him."

Alice looked at me for a few seconds, almost as if she wanted to say something, but I suppose she decided against it, as she sighed as she checked the time on the Blackberry clutched in her hand. "Okay, well, I guess we'll see how this goes, then. It was a pleasure meeting you, Bella. I hope I'll see you next week, but I'm not sure who will be bringing him and picking him up."

"I hope to see you again, too. Take care," I said, waving as she left the room, and I watched as she collected C.J. and started for the door. C.J. whipped around to wave energetically at me as his mother led him out, and I returned the wave just as happily. I liked C.J. He was an awesome little kid. My hang over from being out at the bar so late had finally disappeared, and I felt light and happy now, watching the two of them go.

Before she followed her son out, I saw Alice turn and give one last look back at me, and I could have sworn she winked at me before smirking and twinkling her fingers in tiny wave goodbye. I stood still with my acoustic hanging from my hand, staring at the spot where she had walked out. No way. It would be considered flirtatious, if she had indeed done so. Nah, I was seeing things. There was no chance that the beautiful, protected person of Alice Cullen would wink at me... was there?

**:P And so my favorite character has made her debut. Do you guys think she really winked at Bella, or perhaps she had an eyelash get in her eye as was leaving, and the smirk Bella thought she saw was really a grimace of pain? haha**

**Leave the love. I know you guys have it, because you gave it to me all night long last night. I'm still sore. XD j/k but yeah, for real. Y'all did.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: You know. I own it not. Stephenie Meyer does. I just like to switch 'em up the way they should be :)**

**A/N: Thank you guys. Sorry about the delay in updating. My weekends are always crazy, and the gf was here. But here we go again, back into it head first. Chapter two coming straight up.**

_Bang. Bang. Bang. _"What am I doing?" I whined to no one, as I was seated in front of the computer desk in my living room, thudding my forehead on the desk in a steady rhythm. Not that I was trying to give myself a concussion, or any sort of brain damage, just that I was trying to dislodge a certain smile out of my head. "God, this sucks. Why can't I just acknowledge she's fucking gorgeous and get on with my life?" My very lonely, single life. I had no friends, really. I went out with a co-worker named Jane to a bar the night before, and watched her pick up guys while I slammed beers back and glanced at the score on the Mariners game. We lost, Jane left me there when she left with Vinny (whoever the hell that was), and I drunkenly caught a cab back to my apartment to pass out on the couch fully clothed. That was my social life. It only brought me to work with a hangover today, and then- "Ah, why does it always come back to her?" I growled and banged my head once more before pushing away from the desk angrily, pacing away from the over turned chair.

I didn't even know this girl. I didn't know how old she was, where she came from, what she did for a living, what she wanted in life. I knew her name. I knew her kid was the coolest six year old on the planet. I knew she'd been hurt. It didn't take rocket science to dissect the tone Emmett took on in her defense the other day. I knew that her smile was the brightest one I had ever seen, and it engulfed my thoughts even now, much like closing your eyes after staring at a light bulb. It was there, and it wouldn't go away. How in the world did this happen?

My cell phone chimed on the desk I had just stormed away from. I shot a glare at it. It was nine-thirty at night, who would call me? Curiosity got the better of me and I snatched it up to look at the flat touch screen. It was my dad. Huh.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Bells," he said, trying to subdue his surprise at my answering. I was surprised, too.

"Hey, Dad. How are things?" I ask casually, resigning myself to the fact I was in store for at least a ten minute conversation. We would both be so quiet and awkward by the end of it that we would stutter our way over the love stuff and practically hang up on each other.

"Oh, you know," he said airily. "It's Forks. How about you? How is Seattle? You're not walking around at night and dumb shit like that, right?"

"No, Dad."

He was silent for a second, then he said what I knew was weighing on his mind the most. "Why haven't you called, Bella?"

I gave a deep sigh, not really in the mood to get into this with him right now. "I've just been busy," I replied evasively, but he scoffed.

"Don't feed me that. You can feed Jake that crap all you want, and Leah, too. You three used to be so close, and neither of them hear from you anymore, either. Are you okay? You're not depressed, are you?"

That was a pretty solid question, coming from him. This phone call must have come at Sue's insistence. Bless her heart, she loved me.

"Dad..." I tried to avoid the subject. I wasn't depressed, I was just in my own world, which I prefer to having Jacob giving me sad eyes, and Leah wanting to pull me into any nook or cranny she could find for a quickie. I preferred the solitude to the parties, the drinking, the smell of marijuana, and Mike Newton puking all over everything. I preferred this small apartment to the spacious yard and house I'd grown up in, with every memory intact. Even the memory of the day Renee left me and Dad. No, I would leave Forks in Forks, and I will stay here.

"Talk to me, Bells," he said in earnest, and I knew this request was sincere, he really wanted to know.

"I swear, I am perfectly okay. Happy, even. It's quiet, I can think. I go to work, and come home to play guitar, then listen to some tunes as I pass out. It's zen for me."

"Zen?"

I laughed, shaking my head at my father. I missed him, I really did. "Nothing, Dad. Hey, did you catch that game last night?"

And so the heavy stuff was forgotten and both us fell into a comfortable small talk about our baseball team, and how we thought the rest of the season would go. He tried to bring up Leah once more, but I shot him down again, and then he let me go. I tossed my phone aside with a sigh of relief. Thank god that was over. I couldn't handle listening to him talk about how Leah was now dating Paul, and they were so happy blah blah blah. I didn't want to think about that meathead banging the same thing I used to bang. It was just weird. Dad had no idea about me and Leah, so I couldn't hold it against him. Poor guy just wanted me to want to come home. Not a chance, buddy. Especially now that I've met her. _There you go again, Swan! She's untouchable, let it go! _I'd spent the rest of the day scolding myself in that manner.

I was sure by now that the wink and smirk I had thought I'd seen was merely an eyelash that got into her eye, and the smirk was really a grimace from the sting in her eye. As for the tiny wave, that probably _was_ to me, as I am positive I looked like an idiot standing there drooling as she walked away. She was probably creeped out and that little wave was just to make sure I wouldn't attack her if she moved out of the door too quickly. Ugh, I was _so_ smooth.

I was going to explode if I didn't do something, if I just sat in this apartment and stewed over this woman I had only met this morning and knew nothing about. This is where I wished I had at least _one_ friend to hang out with, to go out and have a beer and a conversation with. Someone I could tell about Alice Cullen.

_Screw it._ I hopped up from the couch where I sat down to talk to my dad, racing over to the counter to grab the keys to my truck before I could change my mind, then thought twice and set them back down. I would call a cab.

* * *

><p><em>Not my scene<em>, I thought to myself as I stood in line to get into this place called _La Lune Bleu_. Loosely translating for my English-speaking tongue, I think it meant something like The Blue Moon. I could hear the Chris Brown throbbing inside the building already. _Everybody put your hands in the air and say yeah yeah yeah. _I shook my head. I was just here for the alcohol and the girls. I figured I might have the fuel to make a one night stand. It'd been a while, after all.

I'm a pretty girl, I hear, and it didn't take the door man a second look to wave me through without glancing at my license or taking my cover fee. Hey, whatever works, right?

The usual dark hall way littered with people glowing beneath the blacklights that lined the ceiling on both sides, the smell of sweat, sex, and booze. Yeah, I really hated these places, and it it really griped my ass that every time I wanted to go fishing I would have to come to places like this. _At least Jacob's not here to cock-block the shit out of me, for once. _I giggled. Jacob was just horrible in these places, too, and would ward off anyone that came near me, male or female. It was only after he confessed his feelings that I understood. He hated he wasn't the one I was flirting with.

There was a decent sized crowd for it to be only just eleven, because as I understand it, the night life really begins after midnight. Yeah, I was probably going to be going home drunk and alone again tonight, passing out around one, right when everyone my age is out having the times of their lives. The thought made me scowl. I was so back and forth. I wanted friends, but I wanted to be alone. I wanted a life, but I wanted solitude. Can't have cake and eat it, too. _Start things out with a shot or two. _

One of the two bartenders was a pasty skinned guy with crazy hair that looked like he had just stood in front of a shop fan on super high, then just slathered gel through it, and thought it looked hot. I thought that it would come in handy if the roof fell in; he would have plenty of protection with his stupid hair-_don't_. He slid up to me and gave a crooked grin that I am sure he thought was as sexy as his hair, and I puked a little in my mouth.

"What can I do for you, sweetheart?" he asked in a voice I'm sure he also thought sounded like velvet, only it sounded as gross and scratchy as the five o' clock shadow on his chin.

"Two shots of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey, if you've got it, and a bottle of Heineken." He raised his bushy eyebrows at me, and I almost asked him if wanted me to shoot around the corner to the drugstore and pick him up a pair of tweezers, but he flipped around to fill my order. _Good boy. I'll call you Jimmy Neutron._

When Jimmy Neutron finally returned with what I had asked for, I handed him my debit card and requested a tab be opened. He looked at the name on the card and back up at me with that same crooked grin. "Does that mean I'll be seeing you a lot tonight... Isabella?" God, that name. I could kill Renee.

"Not for the reasons you want, Jimmy," I muttered, glaring at his stupid hair so hard that I feared the hair gel could ignite and start a blazing fire.

"What was that?" he called over the music, and he leaned forward enough for me to catch a whiff of his cologne. Curve. Not bad, I was wearing it myself.

"I said, I'm gonna get drunk and go shimmy!" I lied loudly, taking his pause and stare to take my first shot. I really liked the taste of the Tennessee Honey, maybe even more than the original No. 7. Huh, I'll bet Dad would love it. Got to get him a bottle for his birthday.

Jimmy Neutron nodded his giant head. "That's what people do! I'm sure you'll find someone to keep you company; you're gorgeous!"

I strained to keep myself from rolling my eyes. "Thanks."

I took my last shot and walked away from the bar with my beer, leaning up against a railing that looked out of the swarm of writhing bodies that made up the dance floor. I scanned the tops of their heads, trying to find a nice distraction to watch, but not seeing a single girl that could smash that perfect face out of my memory. Alice... that name rolled so easily off my tongue, I could just imagine walking up behind her and pulling her back to my front and whispering it in her ear. It gave me chills, you know, the good kind.

_The world is full of ghosts... and I am alone.*_

"Hey there." A voice snapped me out of my private thoughts, and I turned to see a guy with long blonde hair pulled back into a neat ponytail with a shit-eating grin plastered on his scruffy face. _He and Jimmy Neutron should go in on a new razor together, _was the first thought in my mind after seeing this guy.

"Hi," I answered, looking away from him. No chance, he was persistent.

"I've never seen you around here before. You new to the area?"

"Kind of," I replied vaguely, but he still didn't give up.

"You come here with your boyfriend?"

_Here we go. I wish Jake was here for this one. _"Nope."

"Why not? Get in a fight?"

_Ugh, please just leave. _"No, I don't have a boyfriend because I don't like _boys_. I'm here for the same reason you are. So you're wasting your time, really."

"It's your lucky day, then," he said, his grin widening. "It just so happens that I am here with a dear friend of mine, and she doesn't like _boys_, either." He waved his hand and like magic, a red head with a grin mirroring his appeared, her hand out stretched to me.

"Victoria," she told me her name, and when I shook her hand, I shivered. These were _not_ the good kind. "I see you've met James," she went on, indicating ponytail guy. Now that I got a good look at him, he seemed kinda creepy. Victoria was beautiful, definitely worth at least one romp in the sheets. But there was something about her that weirded me out, and I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Yeah," I affirmed, nodding once in his direction. "I'm Bella."

"Bella," she repeated, her face unreadable. "Well, _Bella_, what brings you out to _La Lune Bleu_ tonight? I know I have never seen you here before, and we're here nearly every weekend."

"Just wanted to get out of the house... maybe meet a nice girl..." I trailed off as Victoria smiled widely, and James walked off to the bar.

"Well," Victoria said, leaning forward into my ear. "I'm not exactly a _nice _girl, but I'm sure we could have some _fun_. What do you say... Bella?"

I thought about it. She was throwing herself at me. She was a very pretty girl. But her friend was creepy, and something about Victoria herself was, too. "Want to dance?" I found myself asking her, shaking off the vibe the girl exuded. I'd come here to meet someone new, so damn it, I wasn't going to brush off what could be the only chance at fucking away these thoughts of Alice.

Victoria's smiled curled at the edges, and I was forcibly reminded of the cat that caught the canary. It was strange, but at the same time made me curious. _Who is this girl? What does she want with me? _

James showed up with three small plastic cups, each holding a shot of liquor. "To new friendships?" he said, passing one to me and then Victoria, before raising his own in a toast. All three of us took the shots.

"HEY! DON'T DRINK THAT!" Too late, it was down the hatch. "YOU WITH THE PONYTAIL! DON'T MOVE!"

Jimmy Neutron appeared out of no where, slinging James up against the railing and getting in his face. "What did you put in her drink? I saw it!"

_Put... in... whose... drink? _I looked over at Victoria, only to see she had vanished, and I whipped my head around to see where she had gone, but I didn't see her red mane anywhere. Looking back at Jimmy and James, James was pushing Jimmy Neutron back, and then a huge muscled guy with a black t-shirt stretched over his broad chest appeared, grabbing James by the back of his neck.

"Is this him, Edward?" the big guy asked with a familiar voice, and it bugged me that it was too dark in here to see the guy's face.

"Yeah, Emmett," Jimmy Neutron growled. _Emmett? _Still familiar... "He bought three shots of tequila, and I saw him put powder in one of them and then come hand it to her." He pointed at me, and when the big guy turned around, it dawned on me who it was.

"I know you," was what I said, and he squinted at me for a second before he recognized me, too.

"Bella, the guitar chick?" he said in a dumbfounded tone. Then he looked at the guy still suspended in mid-air by the scruff of his neck, who looked terrified. "Buddy, what did you put in her drink?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" James yelled, squirming around to try to get free, but wincing when Emmett tightened his grip.

"I think you do," Emmett snarled, shaking him a bit. "Eddie, why don't we take this guy outside and teach him a lesson on how to treat ladies?"

"You should," Jimmy (Eddie?) said, looking over at me with a real concern in his eyes. "I'm going to look after her, she drank it."

"I'll take care of her," a new voice said, and this voice made tingles explode in my chest and spread through my body. The feminine tone came from behind me, and I dared not turn around to see her face. "You go with Emmett and get some fresh air."

I felt a soft touch on my left shoulder, scorching with its warmth, and before I knew it, I was facing Alice Cullen, who stepped around into my eyesight. She was just as beautiful as I remembered, and more. I could see the blue of her eyes, even in this dark building. "Bella, do you remember me?" she asked me gently, and I gasped at hearing my name from her lips; and as if it were a sledgehammer to the top of my head, whatever James had put in that shot hit me full force, and my knees gave out. Alice and Jimmy Neutron caught me before I hit the floor, but there was a scuffle, and I heard someone shout. Then all I saw was black.

**A/N: Ta da! Another one up. I'll get on to 3 as soon as I can. The lyrics in the beginning are Chris Brown, it's just something I figured would fit to the scene. **

**The * on the italics indicates that those are not my beautiful words. They belong to Otep Shamaya. **

**I love you guys! Tell me what you think! Tell me what you want! Tell me any words, cuz words are my drug of choice! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: It's all Meyer. Nothing mine but C.J.**

**A/N: Tee hee... thanks for the love! And here's mine to you!**

**Chapter three goes out to WildImagination28, Villemo79, and aurike. Cheers, guys!**

**AlicePOV:**

I couldn't believe what I was reading on the screen of my phone. _Trble on da flr roofies_

is the text I received from Edward, which I translated easily to mean that some shady shit was going down out there. I slammed my lap top shut, pissed off that I had to abandon my truck order form to go straighten these drunks out.

I really just wanted to go home. I'd had a long day, and I still couldn't get my mind off the dark chocolate eyes that had melted into me today; my son's guitar teacher absorbed my thoughts. She made my heart pound in a way I'd not experienced since I was a teenager and obsessed with was something that had not gone unnoticed by my best friend, my brother Emmett's wife, Rosalie.

"What's on your mind, Alice?" she'd asked me on our way to the club tonight.

"Nothing," I'd lied, not sure how to tell her that I couldn't stop thinking about a woman I'd only just realized existed today. _I wonder if she would play for me...?_

"You are so full of shit your eyes are turning brown," Rosalie scoffed, folding her pale arms across her perfect chest.

"It's stupid, Rose," I said softly, not taking my eyes away from the road to look at her.

"You were fine when we were in yoga this morning, but by the time you got to the house for the party, you were like a total zombie."

It was that time frame where I'd met Bella. Bella Swan. Her name personified beauty. And C.J. raved about her. I wished I could join him when he was telling my father all about his new guitar teacher, only I would have said different things. I would have told him about how intense her face was when she was watching C.J. play, and how interested in him she seemed, the way her eyes lit up when I asked if he were into it. What I wouldn't have told him, or anyone, was how sexy she looked leaned back in that folding chair with that beat up acoustic across her lap, her long brown hair tied back with her ball cap on backwards. So tomboy-gay. I bet she wore boxers. So sexy.

And the tingles... I wondered if she could feel them, too. I think she did. I hope she caught my wink, because I want her to flirt, I want her to ask me out. I want to _know _this guitar-wielding goddess.

I'd even thought about going in and asking for personal lessons... and that's what I was thinking about when my cell phone went off on my desk with that text from my brother who was tending the bar with Rosalie that night.

I came down the back stairs that were hidden behind the "STAFF ONLY" sign on the only door besides the fire escape, which brought me out right behind the bar where Edward was working. Rosalie was tending by herself, and I caught sight of my younger brother's ridiculous hair about fifty feet from the bar. Our older brother Emmett walked up on Edward's other side, and I heard Edward tell Emmett what he saw, pointing to a girl with long brown hair and one of the nicest asses I'd ever seen. _That one could take my mind off of Bella... momentarily._ Surely she didn't come here alone? She was the perfect target for sick fucks like this guy. I stopped right behind her just in time to hear her say to Emmett, "I know you."

That voice. It was her. It had to be. My heart picked up, and my breath caught in my throat. Then Emmett confirmed, "Bella, the guitar chick?" This guy had drugged _Bella_? I was speechless, I couldn't move or say anything. What was she doing here, in _my_ club, of all the ones in Seattle? How was it she came _here_?

I listened to my brothers discuss punishment, and when Edward volunteered to stay with Bella, it woke me from my stupor and I cleared my throat. "I'll take care of her." She stiffened at the sound of my voice. "You go with Emmett and get some fresh air." They knew what I meant. They were going to take him out to the back lot and beat the shit out of him, and deservedly so.

I hesitantly reached a hand out and laid it on Bella's shoulder as my brothers drug that idiot away from her, and I felt the same tingles explode as I circled around her without breaking the addictive contact. I wanted to feel them all over me. I swallowed hard as I met her dark eyes, and I saw the recognition in them, and the want. That made me feel so fuzzy, the knowledge that she wanted me as much I wanted her. "Bella, do you remember me?" I asked her, and she gasped, her eyes falling on my lips, then she looked back into my eyes, and then they rolled back into her head as she fell like a heavy sack of potatoes.

I tried to catch her by myself, but I'm tiny (I hate it, but it's true), and Bella probably out-weighed me by fifteen pounds, not to mention she was several inches taller, despite my two-inch heels. Edward saw her crashing to the floor and let go of the slimeball long enough to try help me catch her, but the guy broke away from Emmett at the same time, and made a break for the main door.

"HEY! STOP THAT GUY!" Emmett yelled at the people obscuring the path to this guy's get-away, but they were either too drunk, stupid, or selfish to comply with his order.

"Alice, get her to your office," Edward said quickly, chasing after Emmett and the ponytailed guy, leaving me with this beautiful woman passed out in my arms.

I looked down into her face helplessly, seeing the beads of sweat already popping up, watching her skin redden before my eyes. I would need to get her into a cool place with a cold, wet towel, and fast. I would hate to have to take her to the hospital and explain to my father why people are getting roofied up in my club; he isn't a fan of my choice in profession, as it stood. But I was confident I could avoid that confrontation, if I could only get her up to my office and into an air-conditioned spot that wasn't choked up with sweating people. "Okay, Bella," I said with a sigh. "I guess I'm gonna have to drag you." I stood up, gripping underneath her arms, and started pulling her dead weight to the door behind the bar. Rosalie saw me and started forward to help me, but I shook my head at her. She needed to keep an eye on the floor.

Once I got to the door and got it open, it only took a second to pull her through it, but when I remembered the steps, I groaned. It was fifteen steps up to my office, and I was going to have to maneuver her up every single one. I gazed down at her still form, trying to decide how I was going to do this, but found myself distracted by the chance to really look at her without making a fool of myself. _Look at her. She's perfect. Oh, her hands._ I reached down and picked one of her limp hands up from the floor and turned it this way and that, appreciating the talented digits of fingers._ So delicate, long and willowy. Strong and capable. Haha. I'll _bet _they're capable. ALICE! _Oh, right, I have to get her upstairs. I can fantasize when she's safe.

So I sat with my back to the stairs and heaved her upper body into mine, using one leg wrapped around her waist to pull her lower body while I pulled the top with my arms, and pushed us both up the stairs with my right foot. It sounds as complicated as it was, I am sure. Both of us were going to have tell-tale bruises from this, I was positive. Right when I got to the last two steps, Emmett burst through the door at the bottom and looked up at me with an apologetic expression. "Oh, jeez, Alice, let me help you with her."

I glared at him as he sprinted up and scooped her easily out of my arms. "Get the door, small fry," he said, and I growled at him.

"You're lucky you're carrying precious cargo or I would stomp your toe _so_ hard right now, ass hat," I snapped at him, slamming my office door open so he could carry her inside.

"Calm down, she's had a rough night," Emmett scolded me, and I stuck my tongue out at him as he laid her down on my couch.

"What happened to that guy?"

"He got away. Edward chased him for a block or so, but he must have had a ride waiting nearby."

I sighed, looking back down at the unconscious girl that had stolen my son's heart, and was stealing all my will power and thoughts just as quickly. "What do I do with her? She can't go home by herself, and I can't take her home with me, because I don't want C.J. to see her like this; he might get the wrong idea. He sort of worships her right now." I laughed nervously, trying to cover up for my real concern for her. My big brother isn't stupid, though.

"Why don't Rose and I go to your place to relieve the babysitter, and you take Bella to her place and stay with her there?" he asked me too softly, looking too deep into my eyes with a knowing expression. I looked away from him, and back down at Bella, who moaned in her unconscious state.

But where did she live? "Bella? Honey, can you hear me?" I tried to rouse her, but all I got was few mumbled phrases and a hand flop. "You need to tell me and Emmett where you live." Nothing. No response. I looked up at Emmett.

"Is her wallet on her?" Emmett asked, and I bit my lip, looking down at the hip area of her jeans. It was probably in her back pocket, but I didn't want her to wake up and think I was the one trying to rape her. I didn't want her to be scared, and didn't want to give her reason to be.

"I think I'll just keep her here until she wakes up, then I'll take her home," I said after a few moments' pause. "She's been violated enough tonight, for me to go digging around in her pockets."

"Fair enough," Emmett said with a nod. "Is there anything I can do for you, then?"

"Yes, you can wet the hand towel in my bathroom with cold water and bring it to me," I replied, and he went to do so. I looked back down at Bella as I heard the water in the sink running, and brushed away the hair that was starting to stick to her forehead with her sweat.

Emmett handed me the towel, and I replaced my hands with it, rubbing the cold cloth across her burning skin. She moaned at the contact, a pleasurable moan, not the unconscious noises she made moments before, and I felt a brick drop into my gut with the realization. Bella had been given a drug that would make a willing participant out of the Virgin Mary, herself. I would probably end up having to tie her down to keep her from touching _me _at some point. Not that I minded the thought of Bella touching me, not at all, only I really didn't want it to be like this. But that wouldn't stop the thoughts playing in my mind as I ran this towel over the woman who had been plaguing my brain all day, and her body reacted to the sensation. How could anyone do this to her, no matter how badly they wanted her? I took solace in the fact that I knew I was better than the guy who had done this to her.

"I'll come back up to check on you before we lock up. I want to carry her down to the car for you... if she's not awake, then you two can stay at our place. I don't like the sound of you two being here alone after hours."

I nodded at his suggestion, and he left me alone with the girl of my dreams, who was beginning to writhe on the leather sofa in my office, her shirt riding up with every movement, and it took every bit of chivalry in me not to gawk at the inches of flesh that were revealing themselves, but to instead pull her hair from behind her head and drape it over the arm of the sofa to put some air on her neck. I folded the towel and laid it across her forehead, then stood to turn the air on full blast. I could slip on a sweater if I got chilly, but I really needed to keep Bella cool, because the drug was really starting to take effect, and she would be awake before long, asking me to do things I couldn't do. I took a deep breath. I could only hope she wasn't so mortified in the morning that she wouldn't want to see me again.

When I kneeled back down on the floor next to the sofa and reached for the cloth, Bella's hand came up and closed around my wrist, making me gasp with the unexpected burst of tingles that settled in my belly in a warm feeling. "Hot," she whispered, and I looked from her hand around my wrist to her face, and saw her eyes were open, dilated, and staring right at me.

"I know," I whispered back, moving the towel from her head to her neck and chest. "I'm going to get you some water, hold on to this and don't let it go, okay?" She nodded and her eyes slipped closed again as I went over to my desk and grabbed the half full Dasani bottle that rested on the corner from earlier. When I came back, I put one hand behind her head to lift her head to rest higher on the arm rest, and took the top off, pressing the mouth of the bottle to her chapped lips. "Come on, Bella, drink," I encouraged her, and she complied without opening her eyes again.

"I feel sick," she said after she swallowed, and I glanced around in a panic for a wastebasket, remembering there was one beneath my desk. I only got back to her just in time to lead her head over it and hold her hair back as she got sick. _Wow, what a first date._ I shook my head. I'd not known her twenty-four hours and already was taking nurse-like care of her. _She'd better damn take me out after this. _

When she was done she fell back onto her back, then leaned up and ripped her shirt over her shoulders, slinging it across my office, and tore the towel from my hands to place it on her chest and stomach.

"Bella?" I said her name, and she looked over at me like she noticed I was here for the first time.

"Alice? Are you really here?"

The question surprised me, as did the zing that rang through me at hearing my name from her. "Yes, this is my club. Do you remember what happened?"

Bella paused, her eyes sliding shut again, and I thought I was losing her again, until she opened them. "James put something in a shot."

His name was James?

"Yes. Now you're in my office, and I'll be staying with you tonight. If that's okay with you, I mean." I blushed at my thoughtlessness.

"Alice, I want you to stay with me... don't leave."

My brow furrowed. "I'm staying, Bella. And tomorrow when you feel better, I want to take you out for breakfast. Is that okay?"

She nodded, reaching for my hand and placing it on her lower stomach. "Yes. Now rub."

I laughed, and she opened her eyes again to look at me, and I just shook my head. "Okay, but nothing below the belt just yet," I teased her, and she gave a weak smile.

"Just yet," she repeated, and she laughed with me.

"Okay, horn dog, just lie down and ride this out. You'll be just fine," I told her, rubbing the cloth across where she had indicated.

She opened her eyes again. "Alice, if I weren't unsure about this being a dream, I would tell you things."

"What things?"

"Like I'd never seen anyone so beautiful in my life before I looked up and saw you looking in that window today. You took my breath away." Her eyes slowly closed again.

My mouth fell open, and I felt my face turn red. "Bella, you should save that conversation for a later date," I said gently, knowing she meant what she said, but I wanted her to remember saying it.

"Alice..."

"Hmm?"

She smiled, not opening her eyes this time. "Nothing. I just really like saying your name."

**A/N: Voila! **

**So, Alice DID wink at Bella. haha **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own it not. Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer.**

**A/N: Sorry about the wait, guys... **

Consciousness set in. I don't know how to describe it other than that. All of a sudden I was wide awake, but had yet to open my eyes. I took a deep breath, and caught the faint scent of strawberries from somewhere. "What the hell is that?" I mumbled to myself, slowly opening my eyes to see my dimly lit bedroom as usual, taking another deep breath, and that's when my other senses started kicking in.

There was an intense warmth concentrated on my back, hot air on the back of my neck, and an arm tucked around me in a fashion I could only call protectively. I touched the small forearm of the person breathing rhythmically onto the back of my neck, and it curled around my waist even tighter. Flipping around to see the intruder in my room, I wondered exactly how drunk I had gotten the night before. Her face was obscured by my dark blue comforter, but the disarrayed mop of black hair sticking out everywhere was unmistakable. "OH GOD!" I tried to scoot away from her, but forgot the edge of the bed existed and fell backwards onto the floor with a loud and distinct thud. Alice's face appeared over the edge of my bed, looking down at me in alarm as I tried to collect myself mentally and physically, all the while yelling at Alice in a high-pitched, panicked tone. "What the fuck? How- when did you- WHAT HAPPENED?"

"Bella, nothing happened," she said quickly, sitting up on her knees as I got to my feet, and I saw she was fully clothed. I almost began to relax, but then I looked down at myself and realized I was in nothing but a sports bra and my boxers. "I swear on everything I love I didn't touch you. Calm down and sit and I'll explain what happened, okay? I promise, this is_ not_ what it looks like, _trust_ me," she went on, as I looked at her with my face turning red from embarrassment, which was resulting in a rise of my temper. I liked the girl, but _really_, waking up next to her like this with not even a full conversation between us? That's a bit much in the first twenty-four hours.

I snatched up a dirty shirt off the floor, thought twice because Alice was there, and discarded it instead, going to my dresser to find a shirt and pajama pants. "Talk, I'm listening," I said shortly, and I heard her sharp intake of breath from behind me as I bent to get a shirt from the bottom drawer. I whirled around to glare at her, but her face was so red and ashamed as she shyly cut her eyes away, instead I felt a smile tug at the corners of my mouth. _I'm supposed to be angry right now, and I'm trying to grin at her without meaning to? What is wrong with me? Look how beautiful she is when she blushes. Look at that adorable hair she has going on right now! I want to run my fingers through it... GAH! Bella! Snap out of it!_

"Do you remember going out last night?" she asked me without looking back at me until I was dressed and sitting down on the corner of my bed opposite her.

I'd taken a cab to this new club Jane had mentioned... _La Lune Bleu_. "Yeah, I remember," I said slowly, thinking about the wait in line. "It was busy. I'd never been there, but my co-worker told me about it, said there were pretty girls everywhere," I went on without thinking, then blushing hard as I realized I'd probably just made myself sound like a poster child for gonasyphaherpeles. "I mean, not that I was- well, I mean I _was_, but only because I-"

"Bella, I get why you were there," Alice said softly, but it still cut me off at mid-sentence. There was an undertone to her voice, but I couldn't put a finger on it. "Well, I own _La Lune Bleu_. I was working last night in my office during club hours, and my brother sent me a text saying there was some trouble on the floor, so I went down to see it fixed." She paused, and let the words sink in, and I thought hard about what had happened when I finally got inside the bar. The bartender had looked like Jimmy Neutron. I'd gotten two shots... a beer. Watched the dance floor, still thinking about Alice... she owned the club. Go fucking figure. Wait...

"There was a guy," I said, remembering his creepy grin and his long hair, tied back. ..._She doesn't like _boys _either. _"And a girl, she was with him. God, I can't remember their names..."

"James?" Alice supplied, a bitter tone in her voice. I gave a long look into her eyes. She was worried about me, and angry at the mention of this guy. What the fuck had happened?

"Yeah... Alice, what happened?"

She took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly, running her fingers through her messy hair, tugging a bit at the ends. I was a little jealous: I really wanted to do that. "That guy James, he slipped something into your drink. I think he was going to rape you... but you say there was a girl with him?" she asked me skeptically, her head falling to one side and her nose scrunching cutely. Everything about this woman thrilled me.

"Yeah..." I was hypnotized my the way her hair moved when she shook her head at my affirmative response.

"We didn't see a girl close enough to him to associate her with him," Alice explained. "We thought he was alone, and trying to get lucky with someone who didn't consent."

"No, there was a girl... red head, very pretty," I said sheepishly. "She's what kept my attention. And I remember Jimmy Neutron yelling something about my drink, and then your brother showed up, and then-" I broke off with a reddened complexion.

"I was there," she finished with a nod.

"I don't really recall much after that."

"Because you passed out, and when you came to, you were so under the influence of that drug you would have humped a parking meter," Alice said dryly, and I couldn't help but to feel a slight worry come over me.

"What did I do to you?" I asked her in barely more than a whisper, cold fear being borne from the worry.

She shook her head and reached out to touch my hand. I suppressed the gasp that fought to escape my throat, as the tingles exploded again, and the butterflies in my stomach mutated into eagles. "You didn't _do_ anything, Bella. You behaved yourself for the most part. I wiped you down when you were hot, and you told me how to get here. When you laid down, you asked me to lie with you, then to hold you because you were cold, so I did. I never meant to fall asleep, but I was exhausted and comfortable. I'm so sorry you had to wake up to the wrong idea, but I had a feeling it would happen like this." She pulled her hand back to herself and started to stand up, but paused, her face twisted in an internal battle at first, but then she looked at me. "Last night, I asked you if I could take you out for breakfast this morning, and you said yes. If I were to ask you again now that you're lucid, what would your answer be?"

"Yes," I said without hesitation, automatically feeling silly for it. I was like a child who wanted a new toy and was desperate to get it. Then I added as an afterthought, "I'd like to shower first, though."

Alice smirked, and I thought I would fall out on her again. "What makes you think you're entitled to one if I can't even have one?"

I thought about it for a second, then gave her a one-shouldered shrug. "It's my shower," I answered with a grin, and she couldn't help but to smile back; I know it, because I saw her dimples fighting against it. Another reason came to mind, but I was almost scared to say it. Alice was interested in me, I just had a feeling that this breakfast was more like... "And you won't get this first date you're trying to so smoothly ask me out on," I said, throwing all caution to the wind as her grin blew a tire and her mouth dropped open in surprise. I giggled at her. "Might catch flies if you don't close that trap."

"Fine," Alice grumbled, flinging herself back on my bed and crossing her arms over her chest with a pout. God, the things I wanted to do to that lip poking out... "But hurry up, because I'm starving," she added, and I gave her a salute as I entered my bathroom.

_So, I go out to get drunk with no regards, and the one thing I was trying not to regard turns out to own the place I choose. And then I'm selected to be the unlucky candidate for some sick freaks' fantasies. I'm sure she was in on it... the way she disappeared when Jimmy Neutron showed up. I wish I could remember what happened when i came to on the drugs. What did I do? What did I _say_? Alice had said I'd behaved 'for the most part'. That left room for unsaid things._

* * *

><p><strong>AlicePOV:<strong>

I moved from Bella's bedroom to the living room with a huge sigh of relief. That went better than I could have hoped. I thought it was going to get out of control for a second, because she looked almost livid. I had a feeling that Bella was a pretty private person, and waking up next to someone with no memory of lying with them was probably quite a shock to someone who spent most of her time alone. But I did kind of hope she remembered _some_ things from last night. I wished she remembered telling me how she felt when she first saw me. I wished she remembered, so that I could tell her that she'd been in my thoughts since I'd seen her with my son, and how it made me feel when our skin touched.

I put my face in my hands as I sat on her small sofa_. What am I doing? I barely know this girl and I am asking her out on a breakfast date? On the morning after I took care of her while she was messed up on drugs that had been slipped to her in _my_ club?_ I shook my head. I didn't do things like this. I'd only dated one person since Jasper. Jasper had left me in shambles, and it had only been at Emmett's insistence that I try to go out and meet people. What my big brother didn't expect was for me to meet Kate, a leggy blonde from Alaska, who was going to school at Washington State. Kate was my first girl, and in the whirlwind six months we shared together, I learned a lot from her. She wise for her years, but had a wandering eye, and an eager tongue. I caught her in bed with her suitemate, a red head named Tanya. I never spoke to Kate again. Then two years later, there was a brief time with a woman who simply liked to be called Z. She was tall, exotic with her South American features, silky dark skin that I kissed all over for three days straight, and a beautifully accented voice that casted all kinds of spells over me. Z was a wildwoman, I never could have tied her down, and I didn't try.

I'd been abstinate- do you count masturbation in abstinence?- for almost two years at this point, and seeing Bella sitting there with that guitar awakened a need I hadn't felt since Z. There was a story in her, somewhere deep in those dark brown eyes, and beneath her pale skin, a story I wanted to read over and over again, until I knew it by heart, and could recite it upon her request. I'd never wanted to know anyone the way I wanted to know Bella Swan. But I couldn't let her see too much of that, it was too soon, and I didn't want her to freak out because I am being insane. Because I felt crazy, the way I was obsessing over Bella.

I was deeep in my thoughts when she came out of her room, appearing in the living room with dark baggy jeans, and a Beatles shirt that fit tight at the top, pulling that Mariners cap down on her recently dried hair, which was hanging down past her shoulders. It looked really soft... I wanted to touch it, but I refrained as she stopped in front of me as I stood from the couch. "Ready?" I asked her, and she smiled shyly, nodding. _So cute! _

"Yeah, just let me grab my keys," she said, and I watched her as she walked to the kitchen counter and scooped up a key ring. I loved the way those jeans hung on her hips, and her ass looked amazing. I don't think I'd ever been so attracted to someone in my life, and I didn't know how long I could wait until I made a physical move. I could only hope she would trust me that I wasn't using her for sex... I didn't want to fuck Bella. Not at all. But god, I couldn't stop thinking about someday making love to her.

**A/N: Okay... I know its not long, and I know its not my best. But I'm going through alot right now, and I wanted to give you guys something. Next chapter: Bella and Alice finally start getting to know each other! And more C.J. soon, I promise!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Not mine. S. Meyer.**

**A/N: Thank you guys for the kind words. Here's my reply.**

I was quiet in the elevator down to the street, and Alice seemed to be perfectly comfortable, humming a tune under her breath. When the doors opened, she looked at me and made a gesture for me to go out first, and I shook my head, making the same gesture. "Aw, don't tell me you're going to be difficult when I'm trying to be polite," Alice groaned, rolling her eyes but not holding back the smile that lit up her beautiful face.

"Not difficult," I disagreed with a shake of my head, following her out into the empty hall. "My father is a gentleman, and he raised one, too."

Alice gave me a slow once over as we walked side by side to the doors that led outside. "Funny," she said lightly, shrugging. "You don't resemble a man to me."

I gave a glance down at her as I opened the door for her. "Yeah, I get that a lot," I said sarcastically as she passed, earning a giggle from the little pixie.

When we walked around the building to the parking lot, I realized where she was headed and I stopped dead in my tracks, staring at the machine she approached with my jaw on the pavement. She hit a button on her remote keychain, and the flashers on the sleek yellow BMW went off with an accompanying _meep meep_. When she realized I stopped, she turned around to look at me with confusion smeared across her features, and I just pointed at my beat up old Chevy sitting next to her car. It looked like it was ready for the scrap yard, sitting next to a car of this calibur. "What's wrong?" Alice asked me curiously, looking from me to the truck I was pointing at. "Would you rather take your truck, then?"

My mouth flopped up and down. That car was not cheap. Alice owned a nightclub. Her brother looked well-groomed, perhaps from money, with his golf shirt and loafers. C.J. certainly looked well taken care of. And not to mention the clothes she was wearing, despite the slacks being slightly wrinkled... it should have been obvious without me seeing her vehicle. Alice came from a well-to-do family.

I dropped my finger and shuffled towards Alice and her car with a defeated slump to my shoulders. How was this woman interested in me? She could probably have the world; why would she be in Seattle, wasting a breakfast date on _me_? "No," I said, shaking my head.

"Are you okay?" she asked me once we were in the vehicle and buckled in. I didn't look her way just in case my eyes betrayed me.

"Yes," I lied. She was too good to be true. Too good. And now I know that she's several steps ahead of me in life. I had started late on getting my ducks in a row, and now I was in the passenger seat of a BMW, the driver of which was a successful woman, who by some fluke in life had picked me. Needless to say, I felt a little inadequate.

"Hmm. I think you're fibbing to me, but I'm not going to press you. So! Tell me something about yourself, Bella," she said cheerfully, way too happy for it to be so early. It wasn't even nine, yet.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything," she said, and I looked at her this time. She had lost the chipper tone and taken on a soft, serious one when I asked. Her answer made my eagles flock again.

I sighed, touching my hand to my abdomen in attempt to subdue them, but it was too no avail. "My name's Isabella Swan... I'm twenty-two... my birthday is in September. My dad's name is Charlie, he's a cop, and he recently got married to a lady named Sue."

"Any brothers or sisters?" she asked me, and I shook my head.

"Not biologically, no. I grew up with a guy named Jacob, he's like my brother in a lot of ways. And Sue has two kids, a girl named Leah, who's my age, and a boy named Seth, who's only seventeen. How about you? Is Emmett your only sibling?"

Alice shook her head with a ghost of a smile. "Nope. Unfortunately, I have to claim Jimmy Neutron as my younger brother. I refer to him as Edward, though."

I laughed, shaking my head. "No way, he looks nothing like you!"

Alice shrugged. "He looks a lot like our mother's side. And Emmett and I look a lot like our dad. His hair was dark like ours when he was younger, but now that he's put on some age, its so silver it looks almost blonde."

"What about your eyes? Where do they come from?" The question had slipped past my lips before I could stop it, and I felt my face grow several shades darker as she glanced over at me with a tiny smile.

"My father," she affirmed with a nod.

"C.J. has them, too," I said softly, and she nodded again.

"I know," she replied just quietly, her smile stretching for a moment, but then diminishing. "But the rest of him comes from his father."

I didn't ask anything about him, figuring that if she wanted me to know, she would come forth with the information. "I see you in him," was all I said in reply, and she glanced at me again before nodding.

"Do you write your own music?" she asked, throwing me into a topic I was comfortable with. I gave her a grateful smile.

"Yes. But I love to sit back and play old rock and roll."

"Do you sing?"'

I laughed at the thought. "No," I told her firmly, shaking my head and still chuckling. "I can't carry a tune to save my life or yours."

Alice looked at me with a wry grin. "If I'm ever on my death bed, I'll know a serenade is out of the question, then."

I grinned back. "Well, you never know... maybe you'll ask me to sing so I could put you out of your misery," I returned with a casual shrug, looking back out of the windshield as she drove us through the perpetually wet streets. "Where are we going to eat, anyway?"

"My mother's restaurant. It's got the best Belgian waffles in Seattle."

_Her mother's restaurant? _"Um... okay, but..."

"Don't worry, Bella, she's not there," Alice said with a grin, slipping on a pair of designer sunglasses. Probably a five or six hundred dollar pair. "So, speaking of mothers, you didn't mention yours..."

Oh, yeah. I forgot about Renee. "My mom left us. I was very young. Dad raised me for the first few years after, then he started dating Sue when I was fourteen. She was around for all my crazy teenage crap I put my poor Dad through." I winced at the memory of being brought home so drunk I couldn't walk by his deputies. He had been so embarrassed, furious with me and Leah, who was just as shit-faced as I had been. Parties at Quil Ateara's sometimes got a little nuts.

"I never really went through that," Alice said with a deep sigh. "The craziest thing I did was get drunk at a prom after party... that's how C.J. came about," she added quietly, not looking at me, and I saw her hands tighten on the steering wheel.

"A blessing in disguise?" I asked quietly, and she gave a dry chuckle.

"You know it," she answered with another nod. "He's probably the biggest motivation I have to succeed at everything I put my mind to. I don't want him to witness me fail, you know?"

"He's a really cool little kid, Alice," I told her, and she relaxed her stiff position in the driver's seat. "He's very smart, and very polite. I can't believe he is as calm as he is, only being six."

"He's my world," Alice answered. "I can't take all the credit for his good behavior, but I think between me and my family, he's gonna be all right."

"Where is he, now?" I asked, and she laughed, looking over at me with that eyebrow arched.

"Bella, did you agree to this date so you can be my son's new best friend?" she teased, and I rolled my eyes. If she only knew the feelings that stirred in my chest when she said my name, or laughed, or even spoke a syllable. I wished that I wouldn't sound like I was stalker-obsessed if I were to tell her I wanted to constantly reach over and touch her. I wondered if she could hear my heart pound when she looked into my eyes too long, or smiled this certain grin I was starting to pick up on. It was a 'come and get me' kind of grin, and it drove me up the wazoo with the feathery chaos it set loose in my tummy. "But to answer your question, Emmett and Rosalie went to my house last night to relieve my babysitter, and watch him for me this morning, while I took care of you."

"You didn't have to do that," I said, blushing at her sacrifice. She was missing him right now, and I knew it.

"No, I know I didn't," she replied easily, reaching over and taking my hand, and there was no disguising our mutual gasps when that feeling happened. "I _wanted_ to take care of you, Bella," she continued, looking at me as we came to a stop in front of a red light. "It just seemed like you had been brought back to me by fate, because if I were honest... I'd been thinking about you since C.J. and I left Volturi Music."

Hearing that come from her mouth while she looked directly into my eyes made my throat go dry, and I felt something magnetic in her gaze, something that refused to let me go, and held me still. I was locked in this stare down with her, and neither of us noticed the light changed until the car behind Alice tooted the horn in impatience. Alice let go of my hand, which felt ice cold without her touch, and returned her hand to the steering wheel as she started forward again. "I'm sorry if that seems too much, too soon," she blurted a second later, mistaking my silence for a negative reaction. "It's just that I don't _do_ this kind of thing, Bella, and I don't know how to take you because you are so different! I haven't had the attraction for someone that I harbor for you in two years, and that's just speaking physically! As for this unknown emotion I get in my chest when you look at me, Bella- I've never felt it. Not even with Jasper, and he was the only one I ever loved, out of the three people I have been with."

"Alice... I was at your club, trying to pick up girls, because... well, because I was trying to fuck away the memory of you. Your eyes and smile had been on my mind since I looked up and saw you standing there, watching us. I see pretty girls all the time. But there hasn't been _one_ that has overtaken my thoughts quite the way you did yesterday. It scared me." I didn't look at her to gauge a reaction from her, too afraid that maybe _I_ was saying too much. But I had to get it off my chest, at the same time. "You literally took my breath away, Alice." I heard her exhale sharply and I did look at her. "I apologize if that's too cheesy or if it sounds like a pick up line. But I honestly forgot to breathe when I saw you standing there, looking at your son with the amount of love I saw in your eyes... I wish my mother had loved me as much, and maybe that's why I found it so beautiful."

I never noticed we had arrived until she turned the car off and her hand paused when she made to pull the key out of the ignition. "Oh, Bella," she sighed quietly, looking at me with her head cocked to one side. "I can't understand how she could have left you."

I blushed, and she cleared her throat. "Okay, we've gotten a little deep with each other, but is that so bad?" she asked, and I looked at her worried expression.

"You're not going to scare me off, Alice," I reassured her, and she gave me a small smile as she opened her door.

"Well, let's go in so I can treat you to the sweetest thing that will ever touch your tongue," she said, and I nearly choked on the next breath I tried to take as my mind perceived that as a total dirty suggestion. Alice gave me a look as I composed myself outside of her car, and when I finally cleared out my throat, she gave me her 'come and get me' grin. "Well... maybe not the sweetest thing," she teased, and I thought I was gonna die. She was so... Alice. I barely knew her, only I could see that this was true parts of personality she was showing me. And I was thoroughly thankful for the chance she was giving me.

* * *

><p>Breakfast went by as innocently as it could with our admissions in the car, and I found out some things about Alice, herself. She was a business major, but had been a dancer before she decided that it was too flimsy a profession for her to have some stability for C.J. She opted to buy a nightclub so she could still dance when she was hit with the urge, and that had made me giggle at her. It was adorable that she had a child-like quality to her face when she talked about her dancing vocation, but was so serious when she talked about her business. She skated around the subject of C.J.'s father when she talked about her high school years on the dance team, but I knew with time she would open up about it. I had a feeling that he was the Jasper fella she had mentioned in the car, but I did not ask her. Her favorite colors were blue and yellow, but she didn't get my joke when I asked her if she were a Michigan fan, so that told me she had zero interest in sports. She loved music, her all time favorite band was Pink Floyd, and she had seen The Wall the year before, with Emmett and C.J. She loved art. She spoke French fluently, and had spent a summer in Paris when she was sixteen, studying dance under some famous French instructor with a name I couldn't pronounce.<p>

I told her about me and my guitar, and she laughed heartily about who I named my first one after. I explained about Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain being my inspirations to even pick up a guitar as a kid, and told her that I dropped acid for the first time when I was thirteen. I told her that I smoked marijuana on a regular basis until I moved away, and still would smoke it if I could find a dealer in Seattle. I told her that it'd been four years since I'd done any drug other than marijuana, but I did have to spend three weeks in rehab to get me started on the track I was currently walking. I was honest with her, told her that I wasn't always the person that sat across from her now. And she surprised me. Alice reached across the table and put a hand on top of mine when I was rambling on about being a burn out with no direction, and I shut up automatically with the burst of tingles. "Bella," she said firmly, clearly. "I don't care." And then she gave me a comforting smile, which I returned happily. Wow. Everything I just told her, and she still wasn't taking off at a sprint for the exit.

"Thank you. You know, for not judging me," I said shyly as we rose to our feet to leave, and she waved a hand at me.

"Everyone has a past, Bella," she said in a supremely wise way, that made me chuckle. "The past is the past, and it's better left there."

"I couldn't agree more," I sighed, thinking about Forks.

"I had a really good time this morning. Well, aside from the wake up call you gave me," she said, and I blushed again.

"I'm sorry about that," I said truthfully. "It's just that... you know, with you on my mind so much yesterday, and then not remembering last night, and waking up to you..."

Alice blushed this time, ducking her head a bot as I allowed her to open the car door for me. "Maybe you won't be so averse to waking up to me one day," she said in barely more than a whisper, and I felt my heart sink with her words.

"I didn't mean it like that, Alice. And I won't be. Averse, I mean." I shut my mouth before I could embarass myself further and got into the car, leaning my head back against the seat as Alice shut the door and walked around.

She was silent as she started the car, and for the first few minutes of the ride. I felt almost like I was supposed to say something, and she was waiting for it. _But what could I possibly say that she would be waiting to hear...? _I thought about it hard for a few minutes, going over the last bit of conversation. She'd said she'd had a good time, but... Oh. "Alice?"

"Yes?"

I squirmed a little in my seat, feeling my blush creep up my neck and take over my cheeks. "Would you like to-er- maybe go... out with me? You know, on another date? My treat?" I was aware of the on-coming verbal diarrhea, and I shut my mouth again before it could start.

Alice looked over at me with a contented smile. "I thought you'd never ask. Yes, Bella, I would love to. When would you like to do this?"

"Maybe... Saturday night? I close on Fridays, but on Saturdays all I have is C.J.'s lesson in the morning."

"I could do that," she said slowly, thinking. "So, what time are you going to pick me up?"

"Um, I'll have to get back to you on that. Could I have your number so I could text you later, maybe?" I bit my lip as I asked and she giggled, turning red again.

"It's already in your phone. I put it in there last night," she admitted sheepishly, and I grinned. That was sweet. "But I didn't take yours," she added quickly. "I figured if you wanted to call, you would."

I reached over and caught a wisp of her hair that was tickling her temple and brushed it back, and she shivered slightly with the touch. "Thank you," I said with a smile.

I felt better than I had in years.

**A/N: Still not my best... but it's getting there. Thanks again, guys.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you guys! I know I'****ve been lax on the replies, but I swear its for good reasons. This chapter goes out to Hollowgo and WildImagination28... you two rock! **

**Disclaimer: It ain't mine, never has been, never will be.**

I gave new meaning to the phrase "shredding strings" for the next few days, unable to be idle in the confines of my apartment. Work was the only distraction life provided from the constant question in my head now that I had asked Alice out on a date: Where would I take her? All day after she dropped me off I played guitar, finding myself more often than not floating into some Pink Floyd song or another. She was even affecting my music. Once upon a time, that would have made me angry, however now I found it made me giddy. I had to find out more about her.

I tried subtle things to get to know her a little more, like we texted 20 Questions (childish, yes, but effective) that Monday night. I tried to be smooth and just randomly toss in "What's your favorite thing to do?" but I was surprised when she shot a text back saying _Can't think of what to do Saturday night, huh? ;) _The message ended in telling me that her three loves included theater, dancing, but her heart lie with shopping. That made me break a sweat. How could I take her _shopping_? And on the first official date? I couldn't count her breakfast as a real date. It was more like an accidental introduction, but I wasn't complaining. Dancing, yeah I could do that, but it couldn't be the only thing. We could end the night dancing, if she wanted. But that wasn't enough. I wanted this to be perfect.

She liked to take walks on the Sound. Okay, I could do that, I often watched the sun set from a park near Alki Beach. As a matter of fact... I chewed my lip on Wednesday, holding my phone as I prepared to finally let Alice know I'd made a decision about what we were doing_. Hey- how does a walk in Alki park sound, around sunset? Then maybe dinner? :) and of course, a little dancing to top the evening off_? I sent the next with a nervous groan, hoping that she'd be okay with the plan. Already it sounded stupid to me, and I felt compelled to text her back and tell her never mind, that I could figure out something else instead. But before I could even twitch my finger, the phone buzzed in my hand and her name appeared on the screen. I opened the text with a swipe of my finger.

_Sounds great! I love Alki Beach, the sunsets are amazing. I painted one there, once. Where do you want to go for dinner?_

She painted one there, once? I wanted to see it_... Name your taste... within my budget lol_

_I know a place, and its not far from the park. So, what time will I be expecting you_? she asked me, and I thought about the time the sun usually set in July.

_How about seven_? That would give us a few hours to walk the park before the sun set, and catch a late dinner before going to dance it all off.

She agreed on seven, but I found myself secretly hoping that she would be the one to bring C.J. in for his lesson on Saturday morning. I confirmed and said good night, and she returned the sentiment. I threw myself backwards onto my couch, releasing a deep sigh as I did so. God, this was something else. I'd never been so scared and excited at the same time, and couldn't figure out which feeling had more control over me at the moment. My head fell to the left, looking out across my living room, and my eyes fell on my guitar, sitting up against the wall near the sliding door to the balcony. I felt my palms itch, missing the weight of the neck, and the grasp of a pick. My arms felt empty for a moment, wanting of the hollow wooden body, my fingers reaching for the strings and the bump of the fret bars. I glanced at the time on my cell phone. It was nearly eleven, and I had to be at work at eight. I bit my lip, looking back at Love, contemplating. I'd been busy texting Alice for almost two hours. Love had been sitting there since.

Take a guess at what song I played before I went to my room and slipped the CD into my stereo? Yeah. I was a complete sap and played her favorite song... I had a feeling I wanted to have it literally on my fingertips, just in case she wanted to hear it. Next on my list would be "Crazy Train" for C.J. That would be the first full length rock song that boy would play, I would see to it myself. I strummed my way across my acoustic, walking past the electric Fender on the stand in the corner as I wandered distractedly to my bedroom, kicking the door shut behind me as I entered with the chorus. I finished the song sitting on the edge of my bed, just playing in the dark, my mind caught on blue eyes and a bright, dimpled smile. Slipping my pick into the strings at the conclusion, I set my guitar on the opposite side of the bed, reaching behind me and pulling my shirt off by the collar. My camo cargo shorts hit the floor hard, the buckle from my belt clinking against the dull noise of the traffic outside my window and the hum of my ceiling fan. Lying back in nothing but my boxers, I listened to the five blades above me cut the air over and over, letting the sound take me into my dreams.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry, Bella, but you'll have to close Saturday night, it's unavoidable," Aro was saying to me through the front desk phone at the store on Friday afternoon. "Jane has the flu, apparently, and Marcus is out of town on business for me. I would ask Caius to do it, but we both know my brother would burn the building down if it didn't suit his fancy."<p>

"But Aro- I have a date!" I said desperately, fighting for a lost cause, and my boss sighed into the receiver.

"Bella, again, I am truly sorry to spring this on you. But the store closes at nine, so surely you could make a late date?"

There goes all my careful planning from the past two days. "Yeah. Sure. Whatever. See you Monday." I hung up on him, secure in the knowledge he wouldn't fire me because then he wouldn't have anyone to stare at when he's in the store. That sorry piece of- I put my head in my hands, staring down at the numbers in front of me, watching them blur and merge together. How could he do this to me, on the first Saturday I actually needed off in the three and a half months I'd been working here? He'd never asked me in on Saturday before. How was I going to break the news to Alice?

I half heartedly dug in my pocket for my phone, pulling up the last text I'd received from her, sighing deeply as I started typing in the text box. _Bad news. I have to close the store Saturday night. I'm sorry, it was last minute._

It wasn't long before my phone buzzed. _What time do you close? _she asked.

I explained to her that I would close at nine, but maybe not get out of there until ten. She suggested that she pick me up from the store after and we just grab some fast food and go eat on the Sound. _We'll just hang out for a little while. _

Sounded good to me. _Okay, but I really am sorry it didn't work out. _

_It's okay, Bella! You have a job, it happens. So I'll see you around ten Saturday night?_

She was amazing for being understanding, and I gave a tiny sigh of relief.

* * *

><p>"Sooo... How're <em>you <em>feeling?"

I jumped at the sound of a man's voice that came from nowhere as I sat at the desk in the booth, hunched over some blank bars, filling in the notes for the juvenile version of "Crazy Train" that I was working on for C.J. I'd zoned out on the hum of the running amplifier beside my knee, and the comfortable presence of the electric guitar nestled against my side. I whipped around in the chair, catching the guitar before it crashed to the floor. Emmett stood there with a wide grin on his smooth face, and once again, C.J. appeared at his side, a shy smile etched on his little face. I felt myself break into a huge grin.

"Hey guys," I said easily, standing up and offering a hand to Emmett, which he shook, his own grin widening. "You ready for this, C.J.? I wanna show you what I'm working on."

"What is it?" he asked quietly, looking past me at the paper lying on the desk with his blue eyes narrowed.

"Hold on a second, let me talk to your uncle, and we'll get started. Go ahead and get your guitar and practice A Major and A Minor. I want you to be able to show me the difference of your finger placement on the neck, okay?"

"Okay! Uncle Emmett bought me a guitar, but I couldn't practice on it," he added, his head hanging a bit. "It was... a standard?"

I grinned, looking at Emmett, who rubbed his head sheepishly. "Sorry, little guy, I had no idea you were left-handed," he apologized, and C.J. gave him a pat on his forearm.

"'S okay, Uncle Em. Bella can switch the strings for me." And with that reassurance from a six year old, Emmett relaxed a little and C.J. walked off to claim his practice guitar, and soon mine and Emmett's conversation was hidden beneath C.J.'s attempts at playing the chords I'd shown him last week.

"So, seriously, Bella... how are you?" he asked, his eyes full of concern.

"I'm good," I said truthfully, grinning. I didn't want to tell him I was quickly becoming enamored with his magical pixie of a little sister.

"Alice told you that Edward and I lost that guy, right?" His jaw clenched, and his turkey-sized fists curled in on themselves.

"Yeah... did she tell you that there was a girl with him?"

He nodded. "I watched the surveillance cameras. I saw her. A leggy red head that he called over to talk to you. But the stuff he put in the shot, it's called MDMA, and the shot cup had copious amounts of residue. I sent it to the lab, and filed a report, but-"

"Huh?" Report?

He looked surprised. "I'm with the Seattle Police, didn't Alice tell you that?"

_Note to self: Never ask Emmett if he wants a toke. _"No, she didn't. But thank you, Emmett, I really appreciate it. But what is MDMA?"

"It's the chemical that's commonly found in ecstasy tablets, only this is the purest form that is available on the street. This stuff he fed you was so potent that I am willing to bet that he's the chemist that made it."

I mulled that over. "Are there lasting effects?" I asked quietly, not sure if I wanted to know.

"As long as you don't become a user, that bit he slipped you shouldn't hurt you. But he dosed the fuck out of you. Be careful, going to bars and clubs by yourself, Bella. You're a pretty girl... whatever your preference is," he added with a sly wink. Did he already know about the plan Alice and I had for tonight after I got off work? "A slime ball with a hard on will do just about anything to relieve himself."

I swallowed hard at the thought of what could have happened to me, had Jimmy Neutron not saw that fucker tip that shit in my cup. "Thank you, Emmett," I said again, glancing at C.J., who was now shooting impatient looks at me, and glaring daggers at his uncle for detaining me. "And tell Jim- Edward that I said the same. He might have saved my life last week."

"I'll pass it on," Emmett said with a nod, patting my shoulder; my knees nearly gave out under the pressure. "Oh, and my wife will be by here to pick him up." He paused, awkwardly, his face reddening a bit. "Look, if she... if she isn't the... nicest to you, don't take it personally, okay?"

My brow furrowed. "Okay..."

Emmett sighed glancing at C.J. briefly before leaning closer to me and lowering his voice to a whisper. "Alice hasn't shut up about you. We know you two are going to end up seeing each other, and... Alice hasn't had it easy in her romantic life. Rosalie is just super protective, and Alice likes you. We don't want to see her hurt again."

My face shot through with crimson, and my throat tightened with the nerves that shot through me. My collar felt hot and scratchy all of sudden, and I tugged at it as I nodded to Emmett. "I- I wouldn't-"

"I hope not... and I don't see it in you. But, I had to give you a heads up about Rose..." His voice trailed off as he peeped at his cell phone for the time. "I've got to jet. I have a three mile run and a two hundred dollar bet that I can do it in less than forty-five minutes." There went that toothy grin again. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck," I replied, laughing.

"Good luck tonight with my sister," he answered with a playful bounce of his eyebrows that made me blush again. What was it with these Cullens making me blush all the frigging time?

"Thanks," I said, not meeting his eyes again, utterly embarrassed.

"Bye, kid!" he called to C.J., who waved from where he sat with his guitar in his lap, looking back down and replacing his fingers on the frets carefully.

"Okay, C.J," I said with a sigh as I crossed the room and Emmett closed the door behind him. "Show me that A Major..."

C.J. was an easy pupil. He was quiet, attentive, and demonstrated the knowledge he gleaned with near perfect mimics of my own strokes and finger positions. He took in everything I told him. When I showed him the sheet music I was toying with for "Crazy Train", he squealed and jumped up and down excitedly for a second, forcibly reminding me of his true age.

"When do I get to try it?"

"Soon, hopefully. Don't forget to tell your mom that I need to switch the strings on your guitar so you can practice at home," I told him, looking at the clock to see that his time was almost up, and Emmett's wife would be there to get him soon.

"I won't," he promised. "I'll make Aunt Rosie call her as soon as we're in the car."

"Call whom, as soon as we're in the car?" a light, feminine voice asked from behind us, and I turned around to see the supermodel that had spoken.

She was tall, maybe 5'10, 5'11, with long blonde hair that cascaded down her back in large, elegant curls, and she had power-blue eyes that appeared amused as she gave her nephew a smile.

"Hey, Aunt Rose! I was just promising Bella that I would tell Mommy that I need my strings switched."

At the sound of my name, the woman's eyes shifted to me, and her eyes dimmed, then narrowed. I gulped. This must be what Emmett had warned me about.

"Are you ready, sweetie?" she asked C.J., after decidedly ignoring my presence.

"Yeah. I'll see you next Saturday, right Bella?" I looked down at his face, and he looked up at me with such admiration that I felt that blush creep up my neck. I wasn't used to being someone's hero.

"You got it, dude," I said in a parody of Michelle from _Full House_, giving him the customary thumbs-up that came along with the famous line.

He threw his little arms around me and gave my middle a squeeze before turning quite red himself, and then bolting for the door. I couldn't help but chuckle. He was so cute.

"Hey, you."

I turned my attentions back to his aunt as the door clicked closed behind C.J. In two quick strides, the blonde lowered her face to mine. "Alice is one the kindest, most generous, loving people with the _tenderest_ of hearts. If you break it, so help me God, I will rip you limb from limb, and throw you piece by piece into the Sound. Are we clear?"

I nodded, struck dumb and mute by the intimidation rolling off this woman in waves. She didn't wait to see if I would collect my brain, either, she just whipped around and left me standing in the booth by myself, my mouth open in shock. At least Emmett had given me the heads up.

**A/N: Yay for an update! Sorry guys, I really have been trying to get around to this, but as always, life is one big distraction! It might have been up sooner, had it not been for a certain reader with a bouncing tendency... :P**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Twilight and its characters are Stephenie Meyer's. This story is mine, as is the MDMA I mentioned, and IT DOES WHAT I WANT IT TO DO IN MY STORY. Thank you :D**

**A/N: You guys are the best for sticking it out with me. Druggie Kid, or whatever... I dedicate this one to you.**

**I will also take this time to admit that I did not research the drug I chose to have James tip into Bella's shot some chapters ago. So kick me. *shrugs* **

**AlicePOV:**

I was nervous. Actually, nervous didn't cover the feeling I had all day Saturday. I couldn't focus in yoga, forget meditating today. Rosalie was annoyed with me from the get go, but she tried to play it down best she could, not saying anything when I brought up the night to come for the hundredth time in an hour.

"I mean, I don't know what it is about her, there's something in her that I need to know! I need to touch her, Rose, I need to know she's there... and I don't even know her, yet." I shook my head as I toyed with the silver bracelet around my wrist, flicking the little ballerina charm that C.J. had gotten for me this last Mother's Day. "And C.J... God, I don't even know what to say about that, because if you haven't noticed, my son is just as enamored with her as I am! He currently thinks Bella is a god. What if we become official, fall in love, move in together, live an out life with C.J., and Bella helps me raise him for some years before something happens and we split up? What will that do to him?"

Rosalie sighed, reaching over to pat my forearm reassuringly, pulling up in my driveway. "I'm going to go after C.J.," she told me carefully, and when I opened my mouth to protest, she shook her head and went on. "You should wait for tonight to see her, it would just be a tease for you to see her now. Besides... I want to meet this girl. I told Emmett I would get him this morning, so he's not expecting me home, yet."

I pouted in the passenger seat of her Lexus for a moment, and then gave an exasperated sigh. "Fine. I'll go start lunch, and the three of us can eat when you get back," I muttered sullenly.

"Grow up, Alice, you'll see her tonight. Jeez Louise, you've got to get a grip on that heart of yours, girl."

She was right about that. "I know," I replied softly, not looking at her. I couldn't handle another Jasper, and the last time my heart took off like it was with Bella, it was for him. Something told me that she was different, but I had to ignore that little voice nagging at me. I couldn't afford another shattering of the soul I had worked so hard to piece back together. There were never tingles when Jasper touched me... it was hot, languid with him... but it wasn't the fluttery feeling I got in my gut when Bella's skin was against mine. There was a look in her dark eyes when she looked at me, and it didn't come with a side of sexy smirk like Jasper's eyes did. Bella's look was as intensely confused as I felt, and there was also the longing I felt. I was almost positive Bella felt the things I felt. With Jasper there was always questions in the back of my mind, and when he looked me in my eyes and told me that he wasn't ready to be a father, that he needed to live his life, I knew I was right. He left me and his one month old son for the military, and we've never heard a word from him. I closed my eyes at the memory, pain cutting across my breastbone.

"Alice?" Rose said my name quietly, and I looked over at her with tears standing in my eyes. "It's going to be fine. You've made it this far; you can do anything."

I nodded and gave a small smile at her encouraging words, and she pulled me into a one-armed hug before releasing me with a tiny push. "Now go on in there and rustle me up some grub!"

I gave her a horrified look at her too-Southern accent and ridiculous facial expression and shook my head slowly, like she was hopeless. "You remember when you got so mad because you were put on the short bus? This is why, Rosalie," I quipped at her, dodging the smack she tried to lay on my naked arm, and jumping out of the vehicle.

"It was behavior disorder!" she yelled at me as I laughed at her. "I got suspended for the rest of the year from the normal bus line for beating up those two boys and you know it! I beat them up for picking on you, shrimp!"

"Fat lot of good anger management did you, too, huh?" I went on, earning myself a middle finger and a not-so-nice suggestion. "Be careful, and _be nice _to Bella. I love you," I said to her with a sweet smile, in response to her desire for me to go fuck myself.

"Yeah, I fucking love you, too. And I'll be nice to Bella... as long as she's nice to you."

I shook my head at the underlying threat in her voice, and shut the door, watching as she backed out of the driveway and spun tires as she took off down the street. My best friend was amazing, she loved me, and I loved her. She could be impossible, though, and I could only hope that Bella didn't get smart with her if Rosalie said anything. I could see Bella's sarcastic lilt infuriating Rosalie easily. I shook my head again as I walked to my front door, digging through my purse for my house keys, hoisting my gym bag further up my shoulder. The damn thing probably weighed as much I.

The house was quiet, save for the barking at the back door, letting me know that Hyde was ready to come in and see me. I smiled to myself as I let C.J.'S new puppy inside, and the little chocolate lab barrelled through the hallway to the living room right past me, and then he ran through the dining room, then I heard his paws click on the tile in the kitchen, before he came back out of the office, having made a full circle of the downstairs. I caught him before he jumped up on my clothes, squatting down to rub his belly when he flipped over with his tail beating the carpet wildly. "Hey big boy," I said in my normal baby-talk tone I took when I spoke to this unbearably cute puppy. I could have punched Edward when he gave C.J. an animal for his birthday, but I had to admit: he was growing on me, despite the pair of heels he ate the day we brought him home. "How has your day been? Been chasing off those mean old cats next door?"

He followed me as I went into the laundry room and started taking my dirty clothes out of my bag and stuffing them into the washer, turning it on and leaving my empty bag on top of the dryer, taking my water bottle with me to wash it, as well. I took a glance at the grandmother clock in my living room as I passed through to the kitchen, lamenting that Bella wouldn't be off work for another eleven hours. What was I going to do with myself until then? I groaned, flopping down on the couch, and grunting when Hyde hopped up there with me, in my lap and trying to lick my face. "Stop it," I told him, laughing. "You're going to classes, young man, you need to learn some manners."

I made pasta salad for lunch, and was nearly finished with it when I heard the front door slam open and the familiar sound of feet running through the house. "Christopher Jasper Whitlock, what have I told you about running in the house?" I turned around to find my son blushing and ducking his head.

"Sorry, Mommy," he said softly, before he looked up at me. "Why didn't you answer the phone when I called you?"

"I'm sorry, my phone is in my purse, and I was making lunch. Why did you call?" I held back my grin at how important C.J. made phonecalls out to be, like he was calling to tell me the secret to life.

"Bella said to tell you to bring my guitar to her and she will switch the strings for me," he said excitedly, and I knew why the call was important to him now. He was in love with the guitar Emmett had gotten for him, despite it not being set the way he needed.

"Okay, I will," I promised him, and he grinned that grin that reminded me so much of his father. I looked away from him, a pang in my chest. "Now, go wash up and change into your play clothes before Hyde gets you dirty. We're going to the park after we eat and I clean up."

"Yay! Can we take Hyde's ball so I can throw for him?"

"Sure. But remember that we have to go to that special part of the park before you throw it. Remember what happened yesterday when you threw the ball for him?"

C.J. grimaced at the memory of his puppy jumping dead in the middle of two guys on a picnic, sending their food flying everywhere as he chased his tennis ball. "Yes, ma'am, I remember. What are we doing after the park?"

I gave him a sideways grin and looked at him from the corner of my eye so I didn't miss his reaction. "Oh, you know, I thought we'd go to Conez and get ice cream. What do you say?" I knew his answer, of course, but it still made me insanely happy to see the light in his eyes as he swelled up with barely contained excitement.

"Can Hyde have one, too?"

I made a face at the thought of what might happen if the dog ate ice cream. "No, sweetie, I think it would make him sick. But well take a treat to give to him when we're eating our ice cream, okay? So he's not left out."

"Okay! I'm going to go change!" He turned around and took off out of the kitchen, nearly bowling Rosalie over on his way out and up the stairs.

"Whoa, kid, watch where you're going!" his godmother laughed, shaking her head at him. "Mmm. Alice, it smells wonderful in here. Pasta salad? Vinaigrette?"

"Yup," I replied, mixing the pasta in the bowl. "It'll be better tonight when its cold, but it should do okay for now."

"Well, don't let me distract you, carry on," she said with a grin, leaning against the door frame, watching me bustle around in my kitchen. "So... I met Bella."

CRASH. The crystal bowl I held in my hands to store the remainder of lunch hit my ceramic tile floor and shattered into a million pieces at the mention of her name. I looked up at Rosalie with a sheepish grin and a blush rising up my neck, and she merely shook her head at me with an amused expression.

"Really, Alice? She does that to you?"

I nodded, looking at the mess I'd made, just so I didn't have to look into that penetrative gaze from Rose's ice blue eyes. I always felt like she could see all my secrets without so much as a peep from me about my inner workings.

"I'm going to end up in prison, aren't I?"

I did look up at this question. "Rosalie... I don't think she is like Jasper... I think there's something between us, something I never knew could exist in real life."

"Well, she didn't get defensive and loud with me when I talked to her," Rose said conversationally, and I raised an eyebrow. I knew what her "Talks" with my potential dates consisted of, and it was all I could do to pray that Bella would actually want to see me tonight.

"What did you say to her, Rose?" I sighed, moving to get the broom and dust pan to clean up the glass from my slip-up.

"You know. I upped the threat a little, considering the weird way you already seemed attached. It's only been a week, Alice."

"I know," I whispered, not looking at her.

"She's cute, I give you that," Rosalie went on, as if she hadn't heard me, but I knew she had. "She seemed receptive enough of vital information that will keep her alive, so I don't see an immediate problem." She shrugged nonchalantly when I glanced at her as I began to sweep.

"She's beautiful, but that's not it, Rose. There's-"

"-a story there, blah blah blah. Yeah, I heard you the first thousand times. _Shit._" I gave her a helpless smile, and she made a small motion of her hand to show me she didn't really mind, and was only kidding. I knew that, though. She knew she was my only ear I told all my thoughts and feelings, and I hers. That was the best thing about my brother and best friend falling in love.

"You still didn't tell me what you said," I reminded her, and she cleared her throat, averting her eyes from mine.

"Well, you know..." Her voice trailed off as both of us heard my son's footfalls on the stairs and Hyde's panting tongue as he was running down them, too.

"Later," I muttered as C.J. appeared in the kitchen with his furry shadow right behind him.

"Is lunch ready?" he asked me, then he spotted the mess I was cleaning up. "What happened?"

"I had an accident with a bowl," I said with a tiny laugh. "And yes, lunch is ready. Did you wash your hands before coming down?"

"Yes, ma'am," he answered, and I eyed his hands; he used to try to pull sly ones on me.

"Give me a few minutes to get this cleaned up, and I'll get you a bowl."

He nodded and went around the opposite side of the island to sit at the table, and I gave Rosalie a relieved look. I didn't want him to know about Bella and I being interested in each other, yet. It had nothing to do with the fact that she's female, because I have raised my son the way my parents raised me: love is love, no matter it's gender. He was well aware of the diversity in this world, and I answered his questions as honestly as possible without getting graphic. I merely couldn't tell him that I was seeing her until I felt it was real enough to introduce her into his personal life as such. I refused to cause unnecessary upheaval in his life; Jasper did enough of that before C.J. was even old enough to remember him.

* * *

><p><strong>BellaPOV:<strong>

I kept glancing at my phone for the time.

7:00.

7:30.

8:23.

8:37.

8:41.

8:52.

At 8:56, I couldn't handle it anymore, and I called lights off, and shut down. My two cashiers, Chelsea and Heidi, pumped their fists together in some ritual they do when they get off work, and I rolled my eyes. According to the conversations I can't help but over hear, they go out to bars and have competitions on which one can get more numbers than the other. They were both kind of airheads, and they really got on my nerves. I suspected Aro kept them around for the same reason he hired me. He kept me because I was goddamn good at my job.

"Okay, hurry up and Z those drawers out," I said impatiently, ready to count the frigging money and get the fuck on. Alice would be here in an hour, and I had a few things to do... and these giggling idiots were hindering my progress.

"You okay, Bella?" Heidi asked, a farce of concern etched on her heavily lined eyes.

"Fine, just come on with it, I don't have all night."

I took it upon myself to lock the front doors, and I headed to the back to turn off the overhead sign for Volturi Music, listening to Dumb and Dumber whispering behind my back. Whatever. I was too consumed with my nerves for the next few hours of my future to be concerned about what those two were on about.

The drawers came up balanced, I set them for the morning shift, locked them in the safe, and turned out the office light as I went to the front to shut down the various light switches, and I froze when I saw a small shadow standing on the other side of the glass door, holding a guitar in one hand. After a moment's initial shock, I realized it was Alice, and she was about fifteen minutes earlier than the previously agreed time. I didn't mind in the slightest, only I was confused about the guitar, until I unlocked the door and let her in. It was C.J.'s guitar.

"Hey," she said quietly, giving me a tiny smile, which I returned.

"Hi," I replied, tearing my eyes away from her lips and back to her eyes, which crinkled in her amusement. This woman knew _exactly _what she was doing to me. "I see C.J. told you what I said, huh?" I went on, gesturing to the little blue Fender.

"Oh, you know it," she laughed, and I felt a swoop in my belly at the sound. "The first words out of his mouth when he came flying through the door this morning after his lesson."

I chuckled and took the guitar she handed me. "You want me to do this now, or...? It wouldn't take long."

"Well," she said slowly, glancing off to her left and back at me, "I was wondering if you could show me how to change his strings? You know... just in case he needs help with it one day?"

"Sure," I blurted out without thinking about it, a blush rising to my face, but I shook my hair over my shoulder to hide it as I turned around to find a pack of strings and a wire cutter. "Let me just get the stuff I need."

"Could you elaborate on 'stuff'?" she asked me with a giggle that made me blush harder. I was extrememly grateful she couldn't see my face. I couldn't even begin to guess why I was blushing, either. I felt like there was more to this small lesson she wanted, but I was nervous about what exactly it could be.

"Strings,and this little handy device that saves me about three different tools in one. The usual." I was being vague on purpose, just to tease her, a small revenge for the heat in my face. I was actually going to buy C.J. a three pack of the best (my opinion, of course) acoustic strings in our store, and this little hand held tool that had a bridge pin puller, string winder, and a wire cutter wrapped all in one. I slid the pack of D'Addario EJ16s off its peg, and picked up the nifty little thing I used at home with Love, calculating the cost in my head as I motioned Alice over.

"These are the best acoustic strings on the market, in my personal opinion. And this little guy right here-" I waved the tool, "-is a life saver, trust me." I made a face as I loosened the keys on the headstock of his guitar.

She was quiet as I went through these steps for her, and every time I glanced at her to see if I was still holding her attention, I saw her navy eyes trained dead onto my hands as the pushed and pulled, twisted and tightened. Her jaw was clenched, like she was trying to concentrate really hard, and I wondered what she was trying to push out of her thoughts.

"It's harder, this small guitar... If it were a full size guitar instead of this little thirty-four-inch..." I let my voice trail off as I finished tightening the last string and then flipped the device in my right hand to cut the excess string loose. "And... there we are. Tell him to keep this, and these strings. I'll teach him how to use it, eventually."

Alice nodded, running her fingers up the new strings I had threaded to her son's guitar. "I like the way they feel... silent, powerful," she said softly, looking up at me as she slowly slid her hand up and down the strings. "Kind of like you... you say so little, and I hear so much... Why, Bella? Why do we connect like this?"

I shrugged, placing a hand on top of hers as she moved it up and down the neck, feeling the bumps of the frets. "I'm not sorry for it... I am glad I met you," I told her honestly, swallowing the nerves that fought to shake my voice. "But I am scared of feeling like this. I've never been in a relationship, not a real one. I had a farce of one with my step-sister- _before _she was my step-sister- but other than that, I have only had flings... and less than I could count on one hand." I cleared my throat. "Most of those I picked up at bars, and one of them I worked with in Forks, when I worked at this sporting goods place."

"I've had even less experience than that... Jasper was my longest relationship, we dated for a year before I got pregnant, and he left us when C.J. was a month old. And I was with a woman named Kate for less than a year, when C.J. was around two. He doesn't remember her at all. I've not had a steady relationship his whole life, and I'm scared... well, my son thinks the sun shines out of your every orifice right now, Bella. I am scared that if we get too involved, and he finds out..."

"He knows you like women?" This was something I had been wondering since our breakfast date.

"He does. I've raised him the way I was raised... love knows no gender."

I nodded, noticing that our hands stopped moving along the strings nearly a full minute ago, and yet neither of us tried to pull our hands away. "My father raised me the same way... it was almost like Dad knew I was going to be gay. He didn't even blink when I told him I liked girls. He might have blinked if I told him how I knew..."

Dad and Sue both would have heart attacks if they knew _a fraction_ of what Leah and I got up to as kids... we'd been fooling around since we were eleven, and had already had sex by the time we hit the doors at Forks High School when we were fourteen.

But about Alice's fears concerning C.J... "Then we don't mention it for now," I went on, knowing she knew what I was talking about. "I know we're both pretty sure this isn't a fleeting thing, but we don't want to spring it on him too soon, if it doesn't work out. I don't want him to hate me for hurting his mother, or have him angry at you for hurting me."

"Okay... but he is going to notice if we start spending a lot of time together, you know. He's very observant," she reminded me.

"So we're friends," I answered her with a shrug, and she nodded slowly. "Besides, we'll tell him if we... you know, if it becomes serious." It was already serious to me, Alice just didn't know that. I was humoring her with these plans of action for C.J., but I really didn't believe we needed to lie to him at all. This, whatever it was between us, it was real... or as real as I could imagine real to be, anyway.

She turned her little hand beneath mine to where her palm was against mine, and then slid her fingers through mine, holding it comfortably. Our hands fit very well, and I thought briefly about whether or not our bodies would fit quite as flush as our hands. Her hands were so soft, like satin against the rough dry skin of my fingertips, callused from years of guitar strings sliding across them. I hoped she didn't mind them. Leah always hated them, always complained that I didn't use enough lotion. She didn't understand that the calluses I worked so hard to develop was what allowed me to rip my fingers across the strings the way she liked to hear me play. But as Alice now took her opposite hand and gently rubbed her fingers across the tops of mine, I knew she was aware of what those strings did to my fingers. She was aware, prepared, and judging by the smile on her face, pleased with them. "I love your hands," she whispered, as if she were reading my mind. "Everything about you is in them, and if I can learn the language, I would totally listen to the stories from them forever..."

I felt my breath hitch in my chest as she bent her face down to our interlaced digits and placed tiny kisses on each of the four fingertips of my left hand, and then straightened up to look directly into my eyes, which I am sure were wide with shock. _Alice's mouth has just touched my body... and it wasn't even a kiss on the lips... but yet my breath stops? _I was reeling; she made my body lose all sorts of functions. "You have forever to become fluent in Bella, I think," I found myself replying, once my breath had returned, and it left again at the smile that broke out across her features.

"I'd like to think so... ready to get out of here? You've been here all day," she said with a giggle, and I realized we were indeed still standing in the lobby of my personal hell hole.

"Oh, God, yes. Hold on, just let me flick these last few lights out..."

* * *

><p>It wasn't raining (can you believe it? I can't.), so we decided to take my truck out to the Sound to park and talk, so we could sit on the back and strain our eyes against the city lights to see the stars. Alice was cute in my big cab, riding in my passenger seat as if she'd done it every day for years; she had the window all the way down, with her right foot sticking out, and her left propped up on the dash board, her short hair waving hypnotically in the wind, her eyes closed as she let her face bathe in the cool summer night air. My old radio was set to Seattle's oldies station, so I merely hummed along to J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers as they sang "Last Kiss". I could play the Pearl Jam version of this on guitar. I think it evolved into more than humming without me realizing I was actually singing under my breath, because I heard a little laugh from my right that jerked me out of my reverie.<p>

"I thought you said you couldn't sing to save my life or yours?" Alice said lightly from beside me, and I gave her a confused look, which made her sigh and roll her gorgeous eyes.

"What are you talking about?" I asked her as I turned into one of many parking lots near the Puget Sound, and chose a spot carefully close to the water, and started to back into it.

"Just now, singing that song under your breath. I heard you. I'll bet you can sing, and just don't like people knowing you can."

She wasn't the first to say something complimentary about my voice, but I didn't care to use it very often, regardless. "Maybe... something like that, yeah." I left it at that, but I also reached over and turned the radio off as I pushed the parking brake down with my left foot.

"One day, I'm going to know things no one else does, you know," she said confidently, and I was strongly reminded of C.J. when he had made up his mind on something, and then had to convince me to go along with it.

"I'm sure you already do," I teased her, knowing full well what she meant.

She reached over and hit my upper arm playfully, and we both laughed. "About _you_, Bella," she elaborated, and I nodded. She was probably right. But tonight, she was blissfully ignorant of me, of my past. I could enjoy this while it lasted.

I let down the tailgate of my truck and hopped up on it, offering a hand to Alice when her first hop came to nothing but her landing back on the ground. "Come on, short stuff, just jump a little harder," I laughed as I held out my hand, and she took it with a scowl.

"I hate that," she grumbled as she settled in next to me, taking care not to let go of the hand I had given her. She once again laced our fingers together.

"What?"

"The nicknames. Midget. Short Stuff. Shorty. Lil' Bit. Small Fry. Anything anyone calls me that has an allusion to my height."

Sensitive about her height. Check. "Okay, I'm sorry," I said sincerely. "I won't do it again, I promise."

She shrugged, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "It's okay, you didn't really know... and it was sort of... cute, coming from you."

"Cute?" I made a face. I had a general distaste for the word, when concerning myself. It was a weak description, completely general, and I liked notorious...

"_Yes_, cute. You're cute, all over," she went on, and from the tone she took, I think she understood the look my face took on at the usage.

"If you say so." I found that I couldn't argue with her. I didn't want to, and I really hoped she found me... cute... for real. I think I might have been a little disgusted with myself for even feeling that way.

She was sitting close, so close that our thighs ran symetrically together, and our hands rested on both our laps. I searched my memory for another time I'd sat so close to someone, and couldn't find anything. Maybe Leah, but we were always so careful about our... situation... getting out in the open, that affection like this was more than off limits. As for the other four girls I'd been with intimately, we never had the time to bond, I never let it happen. A couple of them tried to sit with me like this, but I was never comfortable with it.

Alice made me more than comfortable with it. I felt like I couldn't live without it.

"So, considering we didn't get to do everything you wanted to do today, does that mean it's technically still your turn to take me out?" she asked after some long seconds of easy silence, just watching the light flash out over the water.

I looked over at her, momentarily forgetting her proximity so that I was surprised to find her face so close to mine. My eyes fell directly down to her lips, (_I wonder what her kiss tastes like?)_ and I stared for a few seconds before I remembered she had asked me a question, and I shifted my eyes upwards to hers. "Uh... I... guess?" I said weakly, still thinking about what it would feel like to kiss her. God, I wanted to know!

"You guess?" she repeated, and I swear somehow that it seemed like our faces were closer, and her voice had taken on a low, teasing tone. It was the sexiest thing I had ever heard.

"I... guess, yeah. My turn. Still." I couldn't even form a full thought, much less a full sentence, with her lips so close to mine, and seeming to be getting even closer.

"Still?" she whispered, and I felt every fine hair on my arms and the back of my neck stand to attention with the hot air I felt rush across my face with her taunting reiterations.

"Yeah..." Her nose was against mine, and my eyes slid shut in acceptance that I was about to kiss Alice Cullen, and it was coming so much sooner than I could have ever imagined. It was right... It wasn't rushed... I didn't want to turn around and run from her, and she was _this _close to my lips with hers...

"How about now?" she whispered, and I felt her lips form the words against mine... all it would take was a final press...

"Please?" I requested, and I meant so much more than just letting me take her out. I meant everything, and I knew I didn't have to explain it to her, and it was a beautiful thing when I finally felt her press her lips against mine.

Time stopped moving. Traffic shut up. Lights shut down. My heart stopped beating. Everything froze with just that simple pressure, and the time it took for my brain to get kicking enough to kiss her back. I was spinning as my body took over, kissing her like I'd never kissed anyone before, with this... fire that seemed to strat in my gut, and flamed up to consume my entire being, soul and all.

I realized I had never really kissed anyone before this moment.

It terrified me.

What do I do now?

* * *

><p>It was all I could think about after I had dropped Alice off at her car, making promises that I would be in touch with her soon. What the hell do I do now? She lights me up... she could also burn me down.<p>

Was she as worried about her heart as I was worried about mine? She'd known love and loss; I have not. Could I take the risk of being a heart break for her? Could I run the risk of her being my first one?

**A/N: This is probably going to be the last post for a minute... I am moving 5 hours away come this week, and when I am not moving my junk down there, I will be working. Please trust me when I say I WILL NOT abandon this story, IT WILL BE FINISHED, and if it interests you, please put it on alert so you'll know when I'm back...**

**And when I come back... the chapters will FLOW like the water for which I took my name.**

**Adieu.**


	9. Chapter 9

1**Disclaimer: Twilight is property of Stephenie Meyer.**

**A/N: Guess who's back? Back again? Rainy's back, tell a friend! Guess who's back, guess who's back... :P Thank you all for the reviews, the adds, and all the wonderful words! Thank you for understanding my time off, too! I'm all moved in now, and started my new job and everything... Life goes on! And so does this story...**

**BellaPOV:**

I entertained the idea of running. I thought about it the rest of that night, after we kissed. So much that hadn't been said between us was embedded in that solitary display of affection. It terrified me, yes, but it also intrigued me.

There was no way I _couldn't_ call her after the thunder in my ears that night from the sound of my heart in my throat, running away from the fire in the pit of my being. Alice had poured gasoline all over me and tossed a lit match onto me that night.

And God help me, I was addicted after the first taste. I didn't know what to do. So I called the only person in the world that would understand where I was coming from, the only person I felt could tell me what these emotions racing through me were about. The only person who knew the more intimate side of Bella Swan.

I called Leah.

"...What do _you _want?" she said in a monotone when she answered her cell phone, and I let out a sigh of relief. I was scared she wouldn't pick up. It had been nearly four months since I'd spoken to her at all.

"Leah, I need your help," I said, trying to keep my voice even, and not show my utter desperation. Of course, she knew I was desperate. I would never have dialed her number had I not been so.

She scoffed into my ear. "Hardly, Bella. There's nothing I can do for you, anymore."

"You could do this," I argued, my face turning red at the "anymore". "It would take all of fifteen minutes to explain it, and then you can tell me what the fuck is going on with me, and I'll even give you the pleasure of hanging up on me."

"Tempting," she said sarcastically, and I rolled my eyes at how difficult she could be when she was hurt. I knew I deserved the cold shoulder, the way I left her, but GOD what does she want from me? Our parents were _married_ now, for Christ's sake!

"Please, Leah? I'm... I'm scared."

There was silence on the other end of the cellular call, and I bit my lip, refraining from asking if she were still connected. I didn't think I could handle it if she weren't. A deep, weary sigh told me she hadn't hung up on me, yet, and a second flood of relief washed over me since she had answered. "Why are you scared, Bella?" she asked quietly, not without the edge in her voice.

"I met someone," I said in a near whisper, feeling my heart begin to pound at the thought of Alice.

"You've met a few 'someones' lately, Bella. You have to be more specific," Leah said boredly, though I heard an undercurrent in her tone that I couldn't quite place. It was almost as if her voice wavered just a bit, but I couldn't be sure.

"Alice Cullen... she's accomplished, independent, strong, a wonderful mother, she's beautiful... She makes me feel funny, you know? Inside. And it's not just because I want to have sex with her. Just hearing her laugh makes me feel satisfied."

Leah was quiet again, and I winced, because sometimes I got the feeling that Leah had cared about me more than she ever let on, despite my pleas for her to come out with me, years before Sue married my father. I could only hope my admissions now were not hurting one of my lifelong best friends. "How does this Alice girl feel about you?" she asked after what seemed like a millennium.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair, tugging a bit just to feel the pull, to make sure I was really conscious and was not locked in a dream where Alice Cullen had kissed me mere hours ago. "We went out on a... well, we hung out, because our date plans were ruined by my stupid, chauvinistic boss... anyway, she kissed me tonight. I felt like it was my first kiss, all over again."

"Well, I hope you didn't slobber all over her face like you did mine," Leah commented unnecessarily, and I went crimson.

"We were ten! I'd only seen it done on TV!"

"Calm down, doofus, I'm kidding. So... sparks flew, hmm?"

I took a deep breath and silently chastised myself for rising to her bait. "Yes. Sparks, if that's what you call the source of the conflagration of my entire heart, and the handicap of my now useless brain."

"Your brain had uses?"

"Leah! I need advice, not insults!"

"Okay, okay... It sounds like you really like this girl. And I think you should see what happens with her. Don't run. You always run when it gets too tough. And don't stay drunk, because you do that, too. Stay sober, level, and keep your head as clear as you can. How did you meet her?"

I bit my lip, smiling at how she was speaking to me like a human being again. "I tutor her son. He's my only guitar student as of the moment."

"How long have you known her?"

I blushed at this question, because this was the true kicker. I'd not known her long at all. "Oh, you know... maybe a week," I said airily, and I heard Leah gasp on the other end.

"A _week_? Bella, what the hell is wrong with you? You're freaking out like this over a girl you barely know?" she screeched at me, and I winced, pulling my phone away from my ear as I pulled back the sheet on my bed to settle down for the night.

"You don't understand, Leah," I said softly, lying down on my back and putting an arm behind my head. "There's a connection there that I have never felt before. I feel like she knows me just by looking me in the eyes. It's so intense with her, and so much like a fairy tale..."

"Fairy tales don't exist in real life," she snapped at me, and I sighed. I'd really hurt her. But if she hadn't been so fucking _stubborn_ and just _admitted_ how she felt... maybe things would have been different, regardless of her mother and my father. I would have never moved to Seattle. I would have never met Alice.

"This one does," I shot back, angry at her for the judgement I could hear in her voice. Enough of The Leah Show. "Look, maybe I made a mistake calling you, and I'm sorry to bother you."

"Bella..." Her voice softened, but was still wrought with accusations and judement.

I shook my head. She had no right. None. "Leah... you are one bitter, selfish bitch when you want to be. But you know me better than I know myself, and I needed that tonight. But fuck it, since you can't even swallow your temper long enough to help me out."

"Why? Why should I help you go fall in love with someone else when all I think about is _what might have been_? Why does the advisor position fall to me, when I've spent my entire life being in love with you? Why do I have to listen to you tell me about how perfect she is? Fuck that, Bella Swan, I can't be that for you. I love you too much." _Now_ she tells me. Well, it's too late for her to sing _that_ song to me.

And then she took me up on my deal and disconnected her call, leaving me staring at my blank phone face for five minutes straight before a text came through from someone else.

_Can't sleep... can't stop thinking about you._

"Alice," I breathed, just seeing her words on the screen lifting the heavy weight that Leah had placed on my chest. A smile graced my lips as I texted her back. _Still awake, too... I can't believe you kissed me._

_ Believe it. And believe that it's going to happen more often now. You're a really good kisser, Bella. _Her response made me pause in all thought, and I read it three times before I even tried to reply.

I bit back my smile. She was so direct, and had no shame, so it seemed. _It's still my turn, so I say we meet up at the bistro around the corner from my place at noon for Sunday brunch... if you can, I mean. I know it's short notice._

Her reply took a little longer than the last, and I sweating slightly, lying in my bed and looking at the ceiling. _See you then. ;) _she said back, and I gave a large sigh of relief.

Deciding that sleep was now the most important step between now and then, I plugged my phone to its charger and pulled the sheet up on my shoulder as I rolled over on my side and curled up. Before my eyes could close, however, I heard a thump from my living room, and a resulting grunt. My blood ran frigid. _There's someone in my apartment. _

My bedroom door was shut, but it was not locked, and I caught my breath enough to where I could ease myself up into a sitting position, listening hard for any more indications of the intruder's whereabouts in my tiny apartment. So far all I could hear was the sound of my heart panicking, and I reached over for my phone to dial 911.

"All lines are busy, please hold for the next available operator," a recording said to me in a chipper tone, and I swore under my breath, ending the call and dialing the first number that came to mind. I called Alice.

"Hello?" She was still wide awake, thank God.

"Alice, someone is in my apartment and 911 is busy," I said in a fast whisper, and she gasped on the other end of the line. "I'm in my room, and the door is shut, but I am scared to try and lock it."

"I'm calling Emmett, he's at _La Lune Bleu_ so he can get there pretty fast. I'll be right behind him. Can you please try to lock your door?"

I swallowed hard at the thought of getting out of bed, terrified I would make a noise and alert the intruder to my presence. "...I can try." I slowly set one foot on the floor and went to stand erect, placing the other foot slowly down beside it. I could hear Alice talking to Emmett on another phone, and I took a cautious step forward to reach out to my door knob, and had just turned the lock vertical when I heard a man's laughter from my living room. My breath hitched.

"What? What is it? Emmett's on the way, and so am I," Alice said to me in a hushed whisper, and I could hear the sound of a door closing on her end, and keys jingling.

"It's a man," I whispered so low I wasn't sure if she could hear me. "He just laughed."

"Laughed?"

I snuck over to the far side of my room, eyeballing my window, but it was locked. It led out to a fire escape, but so did the window I presumed he entered through. The two windows shared the same scaffold... he knew I was in here. He had to know. If I were going to break into someone's home, I would check all windows. And as I assumed this guy was a career criminal, he would know that fact better than I. But why didn't he come in here? Why didn't he try to silence me? I started shaking, the shock wearing down into hysterics, and as my breathing picked up into panting, Alice shushed me from my phone.

"Bella, you have to be really quiet for me, okay? I know you're scared, but help is on the way. Emmett will be there in less than ten minutes, and he's calling for back-up. Everything's going to be okay, I promise." I closed my eyes and swallowed hard, listening to her voice, thinking that if he came in here, that this was probably the last time I would hear it. Tears came up in my eyes, and I held back the sob that was building in my chest. It was so soon. We'd only had our first kiss that very night. If he came through my locked door... she'd never know how much she affects me. She'd never know that she makes me feel like a little kid inside, all over again. She'd never know that I was ready to try with her, that I wanted to fall in love with her.

I heard the floor creak outside my door, and my heart started pounding even harder in my chest, and the thought crossed my mind that even if he didn't come through my door, I would die of cardiac arrest huddled in my floor. Then what I heard made my heart stop completely.

"...Bella?" he said from the other side of my door. "I know you're in there, and I know you can hear me... I can hear you breathing."

_He knew my fucking name!_

"We met last week, but uh... I don't know if you would remember me..." He said these words tauntingly, teasingly, mockingly. "We hit it off quite nicely, and I can't wait to pick up where we left off..." I heard a scrape against the door, and he chuckled darkly. "Don't mind that... I'm just imagining caressing you with my favorite toy. So beautiful, Bella..." Another scrape that made my body quake even harder. I had an idea of what was in his hand, but I tried not to think it. _They're coming, it's gonna be okay..._

"You move just as fast as I do, it seems. Making out in public with that girl from the club last week. She's a cute one, too. I can just imagine what you want to do to her..."

I felt my stomach lurch, and I swallowed the bile that rose.

"Alice, right?"

My heart thudded to a halt again, and I heard Alice gasp, telling me she was hearing at least part of this. _No. Not Alice. You son of a bitch!_

"I have a gift for you, and I'm going to leave it outside the door. I'm a romantic, see, and I like to court my ladies before we... heh, you know. Goodbye for now, my beautiful."

"Bella, don't speak, don't move! I'm only three blocks away and I'm flying like a bat out of hell!" Alice hissed in my ear in a low whisper. "Emmett should be there by now!"

My muscles had tightened themselves so that I was stiff and ready to pop, and my tremors wouldn't stop, my heart was still about to explode, and sweat rivulets running through my eyes were making it hard for me to keep them open. I couldn't remember a time that I felt like I was about to die, but I never imagined that it would feel like this.

A loud banging from the living room made me jump, and I cried out in pain as the taut muscles were forced to stretch with the movement, and dropped the phone by accident when it happened. My hand snapped over my mouth and I realized with a shock that it wasn't only sweat in my eyes, and I was not only panting, but sobbing as I watched my door, expecting him to come crashing through it, his "toy" glinting in the moonlight streaming through my window. I heard Alice calling my name from my abandoned phone, but I couldn't pick it up because I also heard another voice from the outside of my door.

"Bella? It's Emmett! Are you okay? He's not here!"

I stared at the door disbelievingly. Could he change his voice? Was it really Emmett on the other side?

"Shit! Bella!" Another smashing noise, and I screamed, balling up against the wall, closing my eyes in terror.

"It's okay, shh, it's just me. See, I won't even touch you..." His voice softened, and I braved a chance to open my eyes, and I saw Emmett there, with his kind expression.

I sobbed in earnest now, unable to hold it back anymore than I had, relaxing into a shaking mess on the floor, and he knelt beside me, but still did not touch me.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

I shook my head, because I knew he meant physically.

"They didn't get in here, then?"

I shook my head again. _But then again, he didn't really try._

"I need you to calm down for me... they're gone, and you're safe now."

"Bella!"

I heard her voice as she appeared in my room, and I cried a whole new river of tears just at the sight of her. I really was safe. If she was here, I was safe. She was here. I threw myself into her chest when she knelt beside Emmett, and she held me tightly, rocking me gently as I shook in her arms. She didn't care I was ruining her silk pajama top, she let me bawl with my face cradled in the crook of her neck. "I've got you, it's okay..." I let her soothing tone wash over me, and my heart started to slow, and breathing became just a little easier. "That's it. It's okay, Bella. You're fine... we're here, and he's not."

I heard Emmett move away from us, making a noise near my bedroom door, and I looked up, remembering he'd left something there. Alice smoothed my hair from my soaked cheeks, and cradled me as she continued to rock me, then she pressed her face into my hair and placed a kiss to the top of my head. I saw Emmett pull a pair of gloves out of his pocket and pull them on, then bend down, carefully picking something up from the floor just through the doorway. When he stood, he held a long-stemmed red rose in his gloved fingers, looking at it with his brow furrowed and his eyes squinted. He turned to look at me, and I swallowed hard, closing my eyes against the sight of it, feeling sick to my stomach again. _...I like to court my ladies before we..._

I gave a violent shudder at the memory, and Emmett cleared his throat. "Can you explain this?" he asked me, and I took a deep breath to try and speak.

"He..." My voice came out thick, and I took a pause to cough and clear my throat before I continued. "He came to the door. He spoke to me." I felt fresh tears build up in my eyes, and I blinked them back, knowing I had to explain to Emmett, and knowing I had to be calm to tell him the story. "He knew my name, and I think it was the guy from the club. James. He said we met last week, that we had hit it off, and he couldn't wait to..." I swallowed a sob, and took a breath. "Continue where we left off." Alice's grip on me tightened, and I heard her make noise almost like a growl, and when I looked up at her, her face seemed to had carved into a permanent scowl; she was still resembled a perfect porcelain doll.

I stopped speaking when I looked at Alice, who met my eyes with cold blue eyes of steely anger, and I wondered how much of his monologue she had heard, because I knew she had heard him say her name. "Bella?" Emmett's voice broke into our connection, and I looked back at him, a blush rising in my cheeks.

"Um... there were some scrapes on my door, and my imagination says it was a knife, because he told me not to mind the noise, that it was him thinking about... caressing..." I forced the word out with a small gag, "me with his favorite... toy. And he had been watching me all night, because he mentioned... seeing something that happened earlier." I couldn't bring myself to tell Alice's big, burly brother that this guy had seen me kissing his little sister.

"Can you remember his exact words?"

_Shit. _"He said, 'You move just as fast as I do, it seems... making out in public with that girl from the club last week. She's a cute one, too. I can just imagine what you want to do to her.'" I blushed heavily, but Emmett didn't flinch at the information, instead he just nodded, looking back down at the rose.

"Is that all?" he asked.

I shook my head. "He knows her name. He said, 'Alice, right?'..." I looked up at Alice as I said this and she closed her eyes for a second, but the expression hadn't changed when they re-opened. She still looked... almost dangerous.

At this information, Emmett's face also pulled down into a scowl, and his hands tightened around the rose in his grasp. "That motherfucker..." he muttered, shaking his head, trying to clear it to continue his interview with me.

"CULLEN!" All three of us jumped at the sound of another voice, but then Emmett's eyes flashed in recognition, and he shouted back.

"In the bedroom!"

A uniformed officer appeared, taking in the scene before him, and Emmett looked back at me after raising a hand to the other officer. "Anything else?" he asked me.

I pointed to the rose. "He said since he was a romantic, he courted his ladies, and that was a gift for me."

Emmett shook his head, and the other cop looked at him questioningly. "We've got a head-case on our hands," he told the guy, who just looked more confused.

"Alice." She looked up at Emmett when called her name, and he made a motion with his hand at me. "Take Bella with you and go my house and stay with Rosalie and C.J. I'll have Huggins here follow you there. I'm going to the station to put this in evidence and file a report. I'm going to find this fucking freak. James. I'm going to get him."

Alice nodded and looked down at me as Emmett and Huggins left the room. "Can you stand up?" Her soft tone surprised me, because it didn't match the look still cast in her navy blue eyes.

I nodded and pushed myself off of her, using my hands to push myself to my feet. I sat down on the edge of my bed and buried my face in my hands at the head rush I got, and Alice sat beside me, rubbing my back between my shoulder blades. "You're going to be fine, Bella," she said, and I turned my head to look at her.

"He knows your name, Alice... It's not _me_ I'm worried about. He's brought you into this." I took another deep breath to steady myself, and Alice shook her head.

"I'm not worried about that. You don't know we Cullens very well, yet." She gave me a reassuring smile, and I couldn't help but to give her a small smile back. "You're lucky to have us on your side, too," she added with a laugh.

I sighed and leaned into her, and she wrapped an arm around my shoulders, giving me a small squeeze. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up, and then we'll get out of here. We need to get some rest, both of us."

I allowed her to help me to my feet, and then to my bathroom, where I washed my face and grabbed my toothbrush. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt to wear for the next day, and Emmett escorted us down to Alice's car, looking all around us with his gun holster on his hip unfastened and his hand at the ready. Huggins pulled out behind us in Seattle City cruiser when we drove off down the street, and I leaned my head back against the headrest in Alice's BMW.

"Are you okay?" she asked me a few minutes later, and I looked over at her to see her glance at me nervously from the driver's seat.

"I'm okay," I replied, trying to give her a smile that came out more like a grimace, and she reached over and laced her fingers through mine. It made me feel fifty percent better.

When we pulled up to a nice-sized house with a small fountain in front, Alice parked on the side of the fountain closest to the front door. She put a finger to her lips as she unlocked the door with a key from her key ring, and we stepped into a dark and quiet house. She punched in a security code and she shut and locked the door behind us, and the alarm system beeped once as the screen flashed "Ready."

She led me by the hand through the darkness, and then she took my things from my hands. "I'll set this over here... okay, come here." I followed the sound of her voice, and heard the crunch of leather as she sat down on what I assumed was the couch. I couldn't see a thing.

She took my hand again and led me to sit beside her, and then she led my head down in her lap. "Lie down... you need to sleep."

"So do you," I yawned as I stretched out on the rest of what seemed to be an endless sofa.

"I will. But not until you're asleep. Now shush, and close your eyes," she said quietly, beginning to run her fingers through my hair. I couldn't argue with that. No one had played with my hair like this since I was little and Renee used to do it to put me to sleep.

I did as I was told and closed my eyes with a deep sigh, concentrating on the sound of Alice's breathing in the dark, and the feel of her tiny fingers against my scalp, lulling me further and further into a sublime relaxation. She was here with me, and for now, both of us were safe.

**A/N: ...Thoughts? Feelings? The button's right down there. Thank you all again.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I know, I know. I suck at updating in a timely fashion. Thank you guys for hanging in there, and all of your encouraging words. The only reason I have for the lack of flow is that since moving to the coast I have become one of the biggest beach bums on Tybee Island. Sigh. But here it is, and please enjoy...**

**Major thanks to my Beta, Hollowgo, for perusing this chapter for my screw ups. *hugs* I love that guy!**

**Disclaimer: Twilight is not mine, unfortunately... but I have ALOT of fun playing with it!**

**AlicePOV:**

"Ahem."

My eyebrows came together, but I did not open my eyes as this sound made me resurface from the darkness of my slumber.

"A-_hem_," it sounded again, and I slowly opened my eyes to see Rosalie standing over me with her hands clutching tightly at her hips, her face screwed up into a look of 'what the hell, Alice?'.

"What?" I murmured sleepily, my eyes sliding closed again, and it was only then that the warm weight in my lap began to register, and I remembered the night before.

"Care to explain why you are on _my_ couch with her head in your lap?" Rosalie said to me, and I opened my eyes to see her gesture at my thighs, which were indeed serving as Bella's personal pillows.

I looked down at Bella, who was sleeping peacefully, her arm hooked around my waist, and her face buried into my lower abdomen. I felt one side of my lips tug up into a smile at the sight, and the light feeling I got in my tummy when I realized we had slept all night in this position. Then I frowned when my neck gave a painful twinge as I looked back up at my best friend. I pried my left hand out from under Bella's neck to reach for my own, rubbing it gently as I sheepishly looked up at Rose.

"Emmett didn't tell you?" I asked her, clearing my throat from the morning husk my voice has when I wake.

"He never came home from the club last night. No call, no text, not a goddamn thing. So, can you explain _that _to me, as well?"

I put a finger to my lips as I glanced down at Bella, who was stirring with a mumble of my name that made me grin, and Rosalie roll her eyes, but I saw her fighting the smile tugging at her own lips. Rosalie acts like an icy bitch, but my best friend is a big softie at heart. "Where's C.J.?" I asked her as I maneuvered my way out from under Bella, replacing my lap with a down couch pillow beneath her pretty head.

"He's in the shower, and thankfully so, if you don't want him to know about the two of you," she said in a quieter tone as we made our way to the kitchen. "Now, what happened, and where is my husband?"

"Emmett is probably still at the station...what time is it, anyway?" I asked, taking a seat at her high bar and burying my face in my hands. It was surreal to me now, the events from a few hours before.

"It's eight 'o clock. Why is Emmett at the station? He didn't have to be on duty until tonight."

I gave a deep sigh and turned my face to the right as I watched her bustle around her skating rink sized kitchen, gathering things for a nice cup of coffee. "Bella's apartment was broken into last night, after she got home from hanging out with me."

Rosalie shot a look over at me from the corner of her eye. "Go on," she said, filling the coffee pot with water.

"We're pretty sure it was the same guy that drugged her last week at the club. He said a bunch of stuff, like that he was sorry they couldn't finish what they started, and that she moves as fast as he does... he was spying on us all night, I think. That means he knows where she works, and where she lives."

"What did he mean by she moves as fast he?"

My face turned red at the memory of our lips together. "He saw us kissing... and I guess he knew that we're pretty fresh into this... relationship."

Rosalie raised an eyebrow, turning to look at me, leaning against the counter. "So you kissed?"

"For quite a while," I sighed, wishing I could gush about how wonderful it was, but the situation had been tainted with this freak's touch. "I don't know how or why, but he knows my name, and threw that in Bella's face, to scare her."

Rosalie's face grew dark. "He called you by name? Could she not identify the guy by sight? Does she not remember what the guy at the club looked like?"

I shrugged. "The guy last night never came through her bedroom door. He stood outside it and taunted her." I paused, then cleared my throat. "He left her a long-stemmed red rose, when he left. Called himself romantic."

"Where does Em come into this?" Rosalie shot an aggravated glare at the clock face on the microwave oven mounted above the running coffee pot.

I explained to her that I called him, and he went into full cop mode after that, and that he was the one who sent us here after he and his back up had arrived at Bella's. "I don't know how to tell her this, but... I don't think she needs to be in that apartment, anymore," I said softly, staring at a cabinet across from me, just zoning out. What if he came back? He knew where she lived, for crying out loud. She lived alone... I lived on the other side of town, and the reason I made it to her as quickly as I did last night was because I floored it the whole way there and ran stop light after stop light. I was lucky I made it there without causing an accident, and I didn't want a repeat affair, if I could help it.

"So, what are you going to do? Allow a girl you've just met to stay at your house with you and your son?"

I had no idea... well... I guess... "No. I am going to offer to rent her the room above the garage at Mom and Dad's." My parents had a gated property north of town, with a spacious apartment above the five car garage, and if I explained to them about her situation, I was sure they would be gracious enough to rent it out to her.

Rosalie stared at me, a weird smile on her face as she slowly shook her head from side to side. "Alice, you amaze me. You meet a girl, fall in love at first sight, end up nursing her back to health after some asshole doses her, go out on one date, and then ask her to move into your parents' house." She threw her head back with a loud laugh, and I felt my face grow red with the blood of embarrassment flowing up, and I gave her the finger as politely as I could.

"Oh, shut up! It's not like that, and you know it... My parents have never even met any of my exes besides Jasper... So it's not like this routine for me, Rosalie!"

She wiped away a tear of mirth that had slid down her cheek, waving her other hand at me, telling me to simmer down. "I know," she said after her giggles had died down. "But you have to admit, it sounds hilarious when you look at it from my point of view."

I twirled a hand in the air in a way to say I didn't care. "She's in danger, Rose. I don't want to see her hurt... and thankfully, my family has the means to see that it doesn't happen." I was very grateful to have the surname Cullen, and the blood that ran through my veins. My family was old money, and old influence, and my father alone was an economic genius, on top of being the head of the board of directors of the hospital in which he worked.

"Are you at least going to call Esme and ask her, first? I mean, we can hardly show up with a moving truck and your girlfriend they've never met."

My heart tugged at the term "girlfriend". "She's not my girlfriend, technically. We've not made anything official... it's too soon."

Rose shook her head as she pulled two coffee mugs from the cabinet. "It wasn't too soon to make out with her last night, but it's too soon to consider her your girlfriend? That is ass backwards, Alice."

_Who're you telling?_

Before I could retort with that very thought, my son came into the kitchen, looking at me with a confused expression. "Is that _Bella _on the couch?" he asked me, then looked to his godmother, posing the same question silently with a scrunching of his brow.

Rosalie looked at me expectantly, and I knew what she was thinking: _Explain your way out of this one, Alice. I'm not helping you._

I nodded to C.J., clearing my throat. "Yes. We hung out late last night, and instead of going all the way back to her apartment, we decided to come here because it was closer, and we were tired."

He nodded slowly, accepting my lie, and climbed up into the stool beside me at the high bar. "You and Bella are friends, now?"

"She's a really good friend. I like her."

He was quiet for a few minutes, and watched as Rosalie handed me a cup of black coffee, just how I like it. I took a sip, and it was then he said in a factual way, "Bella likes girls, too, you know."

I nearly spit my coffee across Rosalie's immaculate kitchen, and I heard Rose choking on her own drink. Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I gave my six-year-old a wide eyed stare. "How in the world do you know that, son?"

He shrugged, watching my face carefully. "It's not hard to figure out, Mommy. She wears boy clothes, and a hat most of the time. Her cell phone has a picture of a girl in a bikini on it, I saw it the other day when I was there. It's like that calendar Uncle Eddie has in his room, you know, from that magazine."

I mentally cursed Edward for his display of the _Sports Illustrated Swimsuit _calendar... though I agreed with my baby brother that Miss March had it going on a few months ago... "Just because someone wears boy clothes doesn't mean they are gay, Christopher. I don't wear boy clothes, and I like girls. Never judge a book by its cover. It's what's inside that matters most. Please never forget that."

He ducked his head, biting his lip, fidgeting his hands in his lap. "Okay," he whispered, then he looked back up at me. "Then how about the way you two looked at each other when you met?"

I held my face carefully clear of reaction, but in reality, he had just blown a fuse in my brain, and Rosalie was not helping by turning around and making herself busy by pulling down a bowl for C.J.'s cereal. "...what are you talking about?" I said carefully, not looking at him.

"You know," he insisted, leaning towards me. "Mommy, it's okay if you like Bella, because I think she likes you, too."

"C.J., let's not talk about this right now," I said evasively, my face heating up. "I'm going to go wake her up and ask her if she wants to go to the park with us today when we walk Hyde... Where is he, anyway?"

"Outside. I let him out when I woke up," Rosalie said, finally speaking up. I gave her a death glare, and she shrugged. "What? I didn't want him pissing all over my carpet." She knew my glare had nothing to do with the chocolate lab that was probably running laps around the fence in her backyard.

"Did you take my guitar with you, at least?" C.J. asked me, cutting into the silent argument that my best friend and I were having with our eyes.

"Yes, I did, and she even taught me how to change the strings." I smiled at the memory, seeing her hands work clearly in my mind. Her hands were magical to me. I still couldn't wait to hear her play. "She sent some gifts with me, for you. A few packs of strings, and a cool little device she used to switch them."

"Where are they?"

I stopped, remembering leaving them on the end table in our living room at home. I couldn't tell him that, though... It would blow my cover story I'd already told him.

"Morning, guys." Her voice came from the door we had all entered through, saving me from an uncomfortable response to my son's question as his head whipped around as fast as mine, sending shivers through me. A grin stretched across his perfect face as he jumped down from the stool, and he raced over to her and threw his arms around her waist. "Bella! You're at my Aunt Rosie's house!" he squealed in excitement.

"You're kidding!" Bella laughed as she hugged my son back, patting him on top of his head. My heart swelled in my chest at the sight, and I heard Rosalie clear her throat pointedly at me, though I did not turn to meet her penetrating eyes. I knew that the two of them were buddies, I didn't need Rosalie's pointed stares and coughs to tell me that. "I was wondering what dark cave your mom had dragged me in last night," she went on, shooting a wink my way over the top of his head. I went crimson, biting my lip shyly and giving her a tiny smile. The things she did to me.

"Are you hungry, Bella?" Rosalie asked, surprising me and Bella simultaneously, both our eyes snapping to her face. "I've got some Lucky Charms, Pops, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch." She looked back and forth between mine and Bella's shocked expressions, a small frown forming on her face. "What?" she said, raising her hands up, palms out.

I shook my head at her. "Rosalie, you're one of a kind," I said, making a motion for Bella to enter the kitchen, and she took the seat on the other side of me so C.J. could sit in front of the bowl of Lucky Charms Rose slid across the counter.

She gave me a smirk and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, that's what your brother says, too, whenever I–"

I put my hands over my son's ears and shot her a warning glare, to which she chuckled and shook her head, looking back at Bella. "So? You want a bowl, or what?"

"No, thank you," Bella said quietly, sizing my best friend up with her eyes. I still never found out what Rosalie had said to her the morning before. "I'll grab something after while, I'm not big on eating in the morning."

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day," C.J. recited from my right, and I shook with a silent chuckle. "Tell her, Mommy."

I looked at Bella with a serious face and nodded. "He's completely right."

Bella swallowed her giggle, and Rosalie turned and walked to her sliding glass door that led to the backyard. Her sharp whistle made the three of us wince, and I gave Bella a glance. "You're about to meet the Devil Himself," I told her, referring to my son's trouble-making canine. "He's cute as a button, but don't trust him with your shoes."

Her confused look soon cleared up with the arrival of the little brown bear-like dog, tearing through Rosalie's kitchen the same way as he did at home, and then she broke out into a huge grin. "I love dogs! He's so cute!"

"Uncle Eddie got him for my birthday," C.J. told her, watching his friend zip around the counter in circles, full of energy. "I named him Hyde, like that guy on _That 70's Show_. He's got the best taste in music out of all of them... I don't like disco." All three of us adults cracked up at the way he scrunched his nose up at a genre of music that even the three of us were not around to live it.

"You're a rock-n-roll kinda man, huh?" Bella said knowingly, and C.J. nodded sagely.

"Give me Sabbath, or give me death," he quoted me, and I tousled his hair affectionately.

"That's my boy," I praised him, and looked up at me, giving his wide smile. I had raised him on the music that my Uncle Eleazar played for me and my cousin Benjamin when we were little kids, before they moved to Georgia when I was in sixth grade. The thought made my chest hurt. I really missed them, and my Aunt Carmen, too.

"Okay, Sabbath Boy, eat up, we've got to get a move on if we're going to the park," Rosalie said, tapping the counter to catch his attention. "Bella, if you want to use a bathroom, Alice can show you where to go."

"That'd be great," she sighed, hopping down from the stool, and I followed her lead.

She let me walk in front of her after snagging her belongings up from the table in front of the couch, and I could feel her eyes on me as I led her up the front stairs to the guest bathroom that C.J. and I used when we stayed over. I gave a look over my shoulder, grinning when I caught her eyes trained on my butt as we topped the stairs, and giggled when she blushed furiously, mumbling an apology. I turned to face her, walking backwards to the bathroom door, where I paused.

"It's okay," I assured her, not feeling so guilty for eye-raping her whenever she wasn't looking. "I look at you, too," I admitted in addition, and she slowly brought her eyes up from the floor when I told her, dark chocolate eyes lingering on my lips before meeting my gaze. I felt that feeling stir in my gut, and my feet acted of their own, closing the few feet of distance between us.

"C.J.'s right down there," she whispered as I rose onto my toes, bringing my face closer to hers, and I found that– for this moment– I didn't care.

"Rose has it under control," I whispered back, nudging my nose against hers, and she gave a tiny whimper of defeat as my lips brushed across hers, then grasped them firmly. I sucked her bottom lip between my teeth, running my tongue across it, and before I knew what was happening, I was against a wall with Bella pressed hard against me, her hands in my hair, pulling just the tiniest bit. I moaned into her mouth as her hands slid down to hold each side of my neck, her thumbs caressing beneath my jaw as our tongues battled in a frenzy, and she sucked in a sharp breath when she felt my hands grip her hips and pull her into myself even tighter. My body was screaming at me, telling me to go on, but my head was clear enough to know I needed to stop before it went too far and I ended up in the bathroom with this siren of strings. Apparently her thoughts were running the same line, because it was Bella that reluctantly pulled away with two gentle lip locks, her forehead against mine, both of us panting lightly.

"I have to shower," she whispered, and I nodded in agreement, swallowing hard as I let go of her waist when she stepped back.

"We'll be ready to go when you're done... that is, if you would like to join us?" I asked hopefully, and I melted at the smile she gave.

"I'd love to, if I'm not being a bother... have you heard from Emmett?"

I shook my head. "Nope, and neither has Rosalie. I had to tell her about... well, you know."

Bella nodded, then stepped closer for one more kiss before reaching down for her stuff she had thrown to the floor when she pinned me to the wall. The fresh memory combined with this kiss sent a wonderful tremor through me. "But I was thinking about some stuff last night while you were falling asleep that I want to talk to you about when we get a minute alone later," I hedged, looking away from her briefly, knowing she wasn't going to like my suggestion that she change living quarters.

"That's fine... Hey, Alice?" she called as I turned to go to use Rosalie and Emmett's master bath. "Thank you," she said with a tiny pink tint to her cheeks, and I smiled gently.

"Honestly, it's no problem," I answered, and she nodded, finally entering the bathroom and shutting the door behind her.

I could only hope she wouldn't freak about my idea...

**BellaPOV:**

I had to admit, Rosalie wasn't half as frightening when Alice was with me, in fact she was rather nice. The five of us (counting that sweet puppy of C.J.'s) piled up in Rosalie's wine colored SUV and went to the very park Alice and I had been to the night before, only in the light of the sun, it was hard to believe that a psycho was stalking me. That didn't mean that every pony tail that walked by me didn't get a hard stare down until I was satisfied that it wasn't James sneaking up to grab me and run. Alice noticed my jumpiness, and sent me a sympathetic look with a brief grasp and squeeze of my hand, though she let go as soon as she touched me, not wanting to draw C.J.'s attention. I remembered what I had heard when I woke up that morning, shocking me into lying on the couch for another full minute before I could stand: "Mommy, it's okay if you like Bella, because I think she likes you, too." I shook my head at the echo of C.J.'s voice saying that to Alice, and the evasion she used to avoid the subject.

"You okay over there?" Rosalie asked me as the two of us sat on the grass, watching Alice chase C.J., who was chasing Hyde, who was running with Alice's flip flop in his mouth.

I looked around to make sure she was talking to me, and she chuckled, shaking her head at me. "You know, I'm not... I mean, Alice is my best friend, and has been since grade school. She likes you, too much too soon in my opinion, so... I have to give you some incentive to not hurt her," Rosalie said softly, looking back at the spectacle before us, just as Alice made a dive for the dog and ended up rolling half way down a hill. We both laughed.

"I like her, too. So much it scares me," I replied, and Rosalie looked over at me.

"Emmett likes you. C.J. loves you. You don't seem half bad to me. Just please be careful with my Alice, huh?"

I nodded, thinking that Alice needed to be just as careful with me. Thinking about the kiss she'd given me in the hallway earlier, I felt a swooping feeling in my belly, and it ghosted a smile across my features. "I'm not an expert in relationships, but... this feels different. I think that this is... real?" I shrugged, blushing, not knowing how else to put it to her.

"Get Aunt Rose, Hyde!" We looked up at the sound of C.J.'s yell to see him pointing towards us, and he ran in our direction to get Hyde to follow him, the puppy's tongue trailing saliva strands behind him as the wind from the Sound blew through his dark fur.

"Oh, no," Rose said flatly, pushing herself to her feet and taking off running in the opposite direction, leaving me chuckling as she took Alice's place in the tag game the boys seemed to be playing. Alice came dragging up the hill she had rolled down, clasping her broken sandal in one of her hands, a disgruntled look on her adorable face, and fell out onto the grass beside me, huffing.

"You all right?" I asked her, giggling when she gave me a look, but her face softened immediately at my good humor, and she even gave a chuckle with me.

"Those two kill me," she panted, out of breath from her chase. "I swear that dog eats my fucking shoes on purpose... he never touches anyone else's!" She flashed me the sandal, which was indeed now useless, as he had torn the toe strap out. "He eats my shoes, drools on my Egyptian cotton sheets, poops on my kitchen floor, sheds fur all over the carpet and the sofa... I could choke my brother!"

I couldn't help but smile at her venting, because I found it cute, and she rolled her eyes at me, elbowing me in the ribs.

"Shut up, Bella," she laughed exasperatedly.

"You're twenty-three, and you're bitching like you're forty," I pointed out, and she lightly slapped my forearm, then slid her hand down to interlace our fingers. I noticed her eyes flicker to her son, but he was paying us no mind at all, being tossed around by his vivacious aunt, who was acting like a large child, herself.

We were silent for a few minutes, but I felt that she wanted to say something, and I remembered her words from earlier. "So, what were you thinking about while I was sleeping?" I prompted her, figuring that was what was currently weighing on her mind. I looked over at her to see her bite her lip, suck on it briefly, then let it fall loose.

"I think you should move out of your apartment," she blurted, and my eyes widened. What did she expect me to do? I had no money to move, and no place to move to.

"I can't," I replied, shaking my head. "I agree, it might be smart to do so, but I don't have the resources nor the destination."

"What if... what if I could get you a place? For probably less than what you pay where you are? I mean, how much is your rent?"

My eyebrows flew up into my hairline. "I pay five-eighty a month. It was the cheapest I could find in the Seattle area." How could she beat that?

"My parents have an apartment above their garage, it has a kitchen, a full bath, and two bedrooms... if I talk to them about letting you stay there, would you consider it?" She sounded very nervous proposing this to me, though I could understand why. "I'm there at least three times a week, it would give us plenty of time to get to know each other, and I can even bring C.J. there for his lessons so you don't have to go into Seattle on Saturdays. Please, Bella?"

I looked at the pout she put on, knowing it was mostly for show, but I also saw the underlying fear in her navy eyes that was serious enough to make me really think. "Wow," I breathed, looking away from Alice and out to the Sound, focusing on a sailboat that was moving across the horizon. "What a way to meet your parents. 'Hi Mr. and Mrs. Cullen, I'm Bella, you know, the girl that's falling for your daughter. Mind if I move in?'." I winced at the "falling for your daughter" part. I hadn't really meant to let that slip, and I had felt her hand flinch in mine when I said it.

"I know what it sounds like, believe me," Alice said, choosing not to address my slip up, and I felt a rush of relief. "But my parents are really compassionate people, and they'll look past the fact that we're dating. Bella, if this is your only option, I am begging you to take it. _Please_."

I looked back over into her eyes, and deflated under the pressure of the worry there in the deep blue pools. "Talk to them," I said in barely more than a whisper, my throat going dry with nerves.

She let go of my hand to throw her arms around my neck, burying her face in my shirt with a deep sigh of relief. "Thank you," she said softly, and I wrapped my arms around her and rested my chin on top her head, closing my eyes as I breathed in that sweet strawberry scent.

I did not know if I had been blessed or cursed the night I stepped into _La Lune Bleu._

**Opinions, please? :P**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: You know S.M. pimps the rights to dis shiznit.**

**A/N: Sooo... You guys can thank Beetlebum101 for giving me the push this time... So, this chappy goes out to him/her... read the story "When Everything Else Is Gone", by aforesaid person, if you haven't already. It's a WONDERFUL tale... **

**and thanks to my beta Hollowgo for making sure its all pretty.**

**To the usual suspects: WildImagination28, Villemo79, and Shabbacabba... Much love to y'all, too.**

**Special Shout Out: Lynettecullen, for going and reading my Alice/OC fic and reviewing every chapter :) ... if you haven't read it, maaaaybe you should check it out! *ends self plug***

**The rest of you beautiful people... I cannot put into words what the reviews and the love you guys leave means to me. Thank you all. Enjoy :)**

Alice wouldn't hear of me going back to my apartment to stay the night, and she booked a room at a local hotel for me for the week. I was not happy about it, but she wasn't listening to me, not at all. I could see the protective nature she held, and I didn't know how I felt about it. I was very used to taking care of myself, because I had grown up very independent. My father was never one to dote on me, and Renee _definitely_ wasn't a doting mother. I was always better left to my own devices.

"That gives me plenty of time to talk to Mom and Dad, and to get a moving company in there to pack your things and load the truck," she explained to me in her car as we left Rosalie's that Sunday afternoon, while I pouted in the passenger's seat with my arms crossed over my chest. I didn't like the fact that she had booked the room on her own debit card, but I knew I wouldn't have been able to afford it and pay my bills at the same time. "This is killing your pride, isn't it?" she added, noting my posture and my silence.

"Yes," I said, not hesitating. "It's not that I'm not appreciative, lord knows I am, but you're blowing money on me for no reason. I don't think he would be back that soon, Alice."

She looked at me out of the corner of her eye, and her lips pursed into a tight line. "So, you're telling me that you could sleep in your apartment without worrying about him coming in again?"

I didn't answer. I knew I wouldn't sleep, that I would be on edge every night with a butcher knife stashed beneath my pillow, a butcher knife I would probably cut myself with before I could even use it to defend myself.

"That's what I thought," Alice said in a smug tone, and I sighed deeply.

"I'm never going to win with you, am I?" I asked her, looking over at her perfect face, which was grinning.

"Of course not," she answered, and I couldn't help but smile back. Her confidence was uber sexy to me. "I'm not trying to baby you, Bella... I am trying to keep you safe. I know you're not in position to spend your money on something like this, but I am, and it's worth it. Keeping you safe is my main priority here."

"It's not down to you to do this," I disagreed, shaking my head. "I don't understand why you have made this your personal responsibility."

A sudden jerking of the car and squealing tires made me gasp and grab for the oh-shit handle above the door, but then I realized we were stopped and Alice was looking at me with a blazing fire in her navy eyes. "Really, Bella? You don't understand why?" Why was she taking off her seatbelt, slinging it behind her?

"I– I–"

She cut off my stuttering reply with a furious kiss, coming over the partition between the two front seats, straddling my lap and grasping my chin so hard it hurt... in a very good way. The kiss was hard, bruising, and she made my head reel. I could feel my pulse in my lips when she wrenched her mouth away from mine, both of us panting heavily. "_That's _why," she panted, swallowing hard. "I just found you... I'm not going to lose you, Bella."

My heart swelled with a warmth that I had come to associate with Alice, and Alice alone. "Okay," I whispered, nodding. "I get it."

"Good," she huffed, locking lips with me once more before climbing back beneath the wheel. "Don't forget it," she added firmly, giving me a warning look.

It didn't take long in my apartment, as I was only packing a suitcase for a week, and grabbing the essentials such as my guitar, my CD case, and my laptop. While I bustled around looking for things, Alice inspected the few pictures I had framed around the living room. "This is your family?" she asked me as I crossed through the living room from the laundry room, sniffing dirty t-shirts to gauge the severity of stench.

The picture she was holding was one that was taken on a day trip to First Beach, near the Quileute reservation north of Forks. I remembered the day well: Leah and I were sixteen, and Seth was merely a baby at eleven, and the three of us were standing with Dad and Sue, cheesing like hell. Jacob had taken the picture. I took it from her and gazed down at the unending smiles in the photo.

"Yeah. That's my dad, his wife, and her two kids with me."

Alice nodded slowly, and she pointed at Leah. "Your ex, then?"

"As much of an ex that I have, yes. That would be Leah."

"Were you... together in this picture?"

I sighed. How could I put this? "We were involved. We were never official, but neither one of us saw anyone else the entire time we were in high school. She's with her first boyfriend now, a guy I hated growing up because he used to harass me, and call me a dyke at every chance he got. I was out of the closet by the time I was thirteen, and Leah... well, she didn't feel like she needed to come out, because she never considered herself gay, or even bisexual. I was just really good at getting her off, I guess, but it still doesn't account for the fact she couldn't keep her hands off of me the moment we were behind closed doors."

"She's really pretty," Alice said softly, almost sadly.

I made a noise of agreement in my throat. Leah was beautiful. But she had shit on Alice. "Not as pretty as you are," I said just as softly, and Alice looked up at me from beneath her long eyelashes almost shyly, smiling a tiny smile that only hinted at her dimples.

"Have you told your dad about James?" she asked suddenly, watching as I put the picture in my suitcase along with my clothes.

I shook my head, thinking that he would drive to Seattle himself, and sling me in the back of his car to carry my ass back to Forks. "No, because I don't want him to overreact and come kidnap me. I don't want to go back to Forks."

"Still, I think you should tell him," she said, and I nodded, knowing she was right.

Before I could reply, her cell phone started to buzz in her purse and she excused herself to go answer it. I glanced down at the picture on top of the clothes in my suitcase once more before I closed it and zipped up the edges.

"It's Emmett," Alice told me, placing her phone to her ear. "Hey, did you find anything out?" she asked him immediately, and I ducked my head as I carried my stuff to the front door and set it down on the floor. It was my fault that they had all been dragged into this with me. He knew her _name_ because of me... If only I had known he was tracking me, stalking me, then I would have never let her get this close to me, if only to protect her. Why did I call her that night? He never even tried my doorknob... Why couldn't I just repeat dial 911 until the call went through? Why did I panic? And why call _Alice_?

_She is all you have here... she is the closest to family in a fifty mile radius... but that should have made me want to keep her away even more._

Lost in my thoughts, I didn't realize when Alice had gotten off the phone with Emmett until two tiny arms slid around my waist from behind as I stared out of the very window through which James had entered my home. "Emmett's going to meet us at the hotel. He has some profiles he wants you to look at," she said quietly, resting her chin on my shoulder comfortably.

"I'm sorry you are all involved in this," I whispered, closing my eyes and swallowing hard. "I hate that he knows your name... what if he came after you, if he can't get to me?"

Alice gave a dark chuckle from behind me. "I wish that son of a bitch _would_ come after me," she grated, and I turned around in surprise at her words. "I'd make him sorry for the moment he approached you." She was so little, fragile looking. How could she even say that?

Studying the hard look in her eyes that I recognized to be the same from the night before, I slowly shook my head in amazement at the tiny girl in front of me. "Aren't you afraid of anything?" I said in an awed whisper, my hand coming up to touch her face.

She gave me a crooked grin that forcibly reminded me of her brother Edward, only it was _so_ much sexier set in her feminine features. "Beetles, clowns, and zombies. Fuck 'em," she said in a serious tone, though her eyes were amused.

I tittered a laugh, shaking my head. "How in the hell did we cross paths?" I sighed, running my fingers across her cheekbone, and her navy eyes fluttered closed at the touch.

"Are you complaining?" she asked, giving me an impish smile, opening her eyes again.

I shook my head, smiling softly at her, leaning my face down. "Not at _all_," I whispered against her addictive mouth, before showing her how much I was thrilled that I had been enough to catch her attentions.

"Okay, these are the fifty profiles for guys with the first name James, or an alias of James, that resembled the guy on the surveillance tape from _La Lune Bleu,_" Emmett was saying an hour and a half later, as he, Alice, and I sat around a table in the suite Alice had booked for me. Yes, _suite_. I was not happy about it, but I was quickly learning that Alice was used to getting her way.

"_Fifty_? Are you fucking kidding me?" I said, my eyes bulging a little in their sockets as I eyed the stack of manila folders Emmett dropped on the table.

He was still dressed in the clothes he was wearing the night before, only his badge was now clipped to his belt and he had his police issue 9mm in a shoulder strap and holster that he didn't bother to hide. He had dark circles beneath his eyes, and I noticed his hand shook a bit as he lifted th Starbucks cup he held to his lips. I shook my head again, the guilt rushing back over me.

"Consider it lucky that we have a good idea of what the creep looks like," Emmett replied, clearing his throat. "Usually we wouldn't have this advantage, and I am thankful we got the bastard on film. I wish you could remember the bitch's name that was with him that night; I'd love to track her down and have a nice chat with her."

"Victoria," I blurted, surprising all of us. Where the hell had that come from? But it was right. "Her name was Victoria... When I told him that I didn't like boys, he kind of grinned and said he had a friend with him that didn't like boys, either. Her name was definitely Victoria... she was just as creepy as he was. She asked what I was doing out and about, or something like that, and I said I was trying to find a nice girl... and then she gave me this look like... I don't know, it was fucking weird. She said something about she wasn't exactly a _nice _girl, but that we could have some fun." I remembered it now, maybe not crystal clear, but more like I had a slight buzz from liquor, which I think by that time, I had. If only I could remember what took place after I came to in Alice's care...

Speaking of Alice, she had kind of... growled?... when I had said what Victoria had said to me about having some fun, and Emmett gave a light chuckle, patting the top of her head. "Down, tiger cub," he said placatingly, and she shot him a murderous look. "That was before... well, you guys." He gestured between us, and my face tinted pink at the inclination. But then he looked at me, all joking clear of his dark blue eyes, so much like his younger sister's. "But her name is Victoria? Are you _positive_?"

I nodded emphatically, and Emmett nodded back, pulling a silver ink pen from the front pocket of his white dress shirt and making a note on the yellow tablet he held, one that had dozens of blue squiggly lines already jotted across it. "Okay. I went through these, as I had seen him pretty close up that first night, and though none of these guys have a long pony-tail, there's like five of them that could be him." He fingered his way beneath the first few folders, and lifted them away from the rest of the stack, passing them over to me. "I've called Edward and asked him to meet us here, but he is busy with some sort of endorsement for Alice..." Emmett shot Alice an annoyed look, to which Alice shrugged.

"I am a very busy woman," she reasoned calmly. "Things have been crazy this week, and someone has to look after the club." Emmett opened his mouth to reply, but Alice shook her head, saying she didn't want to hear it. "If he wants partner share in _La Lune Bleu_, he'll get used to the business aspect, as well as flirting with every _fille_ that wanders through the door."

Emmett looked like he was mulling her words over as I flipped open the first file and surveyed the mug shot paper-clipped in the top left hand corner of the first page. The man in the picture was clean-shaven, square-jawed with a cleft chin, so I shook my head and closed the file, setting it off to the side. _Not him..._

The second file was a disappointment, as was the third. By the fourth file, I was resigned to the fact that it was going to be a long process for me, and I began to sigh as I flipped open the cover of the fourth file, and my sigh turned into a squeak as my air passage constricted shut. There, smirking up at me from the page, was the guy from the club. It was that very same self-satisfied smirk that gave him away, as his hair was cropped short, and a light brown as opposed to the blonde it had been when we met. "Emmett."

Emmett turned his attention from the thoughts in his head to me, and saw my expression as I gazed down at the open file in front of me. "James Alexander Chatham," Emmett read aloud, and Alice's head snapped around and she rushed over to look over my shoulder.

I was reading his physical description, and there, in the notes on his tattoos/body modifications, I saw it. "Victoria LaShay, tattooed on his right shoulder," I read quietly, and Alice sucked in a breath that made me turn around to look at her.

"I know that name, James Chatham... he looks nothing like... Hold on, I need to call Rosalie," she said distractedly, striding over to the bed where she had dropped her purse when we walked in, rummaging around in it until she pulled her Blackberry free of the contents.

"This is great!" Emmett sighed, writing down the names on that same piece of paper. "I'll go back to the station and run these names, see if I can get a last known address on them."

I looked at him just in time to see him stifle a yawn, and shook my head. "Why don't you just turn in what you've found out and let someone else take over so you can go home and get some sleep?" I asked him as Alice paced back and forth behind us, talking quietly on the phone to Rosalie.

"Fuck that, and fuck him. This is personal. He brought up my sister."

I nodded, understanding his determination. I couldn't feel anything other than that James Chatham would indeed woe the day that he crossed Emmett Cullen. Before I could say anything else, Alice rushed back over to us and said excitedly, "I went to school with him! Jamie the Flamer! He was a chubby kid with greasy hair, he looked nothing like he does now, but Em– he was obsessed with me! He wrote me love notes, made mixed CDs and stuck them in my locker, would watch my dance team practices– this is him, I know it."

Emmett frowned, his brow creasing in heavy thought. "He tried out for the football team in his freshman year, but got caught jacking off in the shower, so he quit when everyone started calling him a fag... I remember him, barely. That was my senior year."

"Yes! He was in mine and Rose's year," Alice agreed, nodding her head eagerly, making her spiky hair swish with the movement. "So, I know for a _fact_ that is his real name."

"What about Victoria LaShay? Does that name ring a bell, too?"

Alice's face fell, and she shook her head. "No," she answered, disappointed. "I wish it did. But if we can find him, we can find her, surely."

"You got that right, little sister," Emmett agreed grimly, standing up and closing the folder, hiding James' smirk from my vision. "I'm going to work. You two stay out of sight as much as possible... and don't worry about C.J., Alice, he's in good hands."

Alice gave a bright smile. "I know that. Besides, when we move Bella in at Mom and Dad's, I plan on letting him stay there with them for about week, because school starts in the first week of August."

"There's two squad cars parked across the street from the hotel, and my buddy Greg is camping out in the room across the hall, if you need him. James won't get near you guys."

I looked at Alice, confused. "Alice... are you staying here, too?" There was only one bed in the suite.

She looked at me like I'd lost my mind. "Of course I am," she stated factually, a single nod confirming her words. "I can't exactly go home... I'm sure he knows where I live, too, now that I know who he is."

"You are probably the reason he was in _La Lune Bleu_ that night, to begin with. He probably saw Bella, and got a woody, then you came to her rescue, and it doesn't take a physicist to figure out how you look at her... He may actually be targeting Bella to get to _you_, not the other way around." He sighed, shaking his head. "I have to go. Stay safe, both of you."

I looked at the door as it closed behind Emmett, at a loss for words as it meant Alice and I were alone– alone in a room that we were apparently sharing. I let Emmett's theory sink in. Could James be targeting me to get to Alice, whom it seems he has obsessed over for nearly ten years?

"Does it bother you that I am staying with you?"

A tiny, unsure voice broke into my thoughts as I stared at the closed door, and I let my gaze fall to Alice, who was standing there with her hands clasped in front of her, chewing her bottom lip nervously. I stared at her for a moment, until her eyes lifted up from her feet and looked into mine, and I saw the uncertainty and the fear there. She felt like I was rejecting her...

"No, Alice, not like that. I just– it's okay," I said, moving towards her to pull her against me. I hated that look in her eyes, it made my chest hurt.

"If I had known before hand, I would have gotten two beds," she said quietly, picking up on my unsaid concern.

I wanted to share a bed with Alice, I did. Who in their right mind wouldn't? But it's only been a week, and I wasn't sure I could trust myself with her... I was strongly attracted to her, more attracted to her than I had ever been attracted to anyone. I would lie awake at night tormenting myself into cold showers, thinking _what if_.

"I'll take the couch," I replied just as quietly, and she shook her head.

"I got this room for you, so I am not kicking you out of the bed. You have to work tomorrow, so you need your rest."

"Alice, come on. You know that I am not going to let you take the couch," I laughed, shaking my head at the silly girl standing before me. "I've told you: my father raised a gentleman."

She went quiet and bit her lip, looking away from me for a second, then back. "Well, it _is_ a king-sized bed... we could share."

I laughed, pulling away from her and falling into the seat at the table I had only vacated minutes before. "Alice, I don't know about your self-control, but mine would be killing me."

Alice popped her eyebrows suggestively. "What, can't handle laying next to me, in minimal clothing, alone in the dark?" she teased me, making my face flush with heat.

I swallowed the saliva that pooled in my mouth at the thought. "I can... I just don't want to... Alice, I am _extremely _attracted to you. It's bad enough to deal with my body when we kiss and it gets... heated."

"Psh, like I don't have to deal with my own issues with your sexy ass," she scoffed, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest. "We're adults; we can manage sleeping in the same bed without ravishing each other, I'm sure."

I sighed. This was another of those times where Alice was going to get her way. But I couldn't complain to much, because at least she wasn't on the couch. "Fine," I relented, and she grinned a grin that made me a little apprehensive. "But don't you have to go after clothes, or something?"

"True," she sighed, glancing out of the window at the late afternoon sky. "Do you want to come, or do you want to get settled in?"

I shrugged. "I need to shower, and hop in some comfortable clothes. I'll probably play some guitar, and chill 'til you get back."

She nodded, her eyes sliding over to Love's case. "Okay, well, I shouldn't be long. Do you want something to eat while I'm out?"

I shook my head. "Nah, you've done enough for me... thank you, by the way, for everything."

"You keep on thanking me, and I'm going to beat you up," she threatened, pointing a finger at me as she hoisted the strap of her purse onto her shoulder.

I rolled my eyes. "As if. Get out of here, be careful."

She gave me a soft kiss. "I'm going to get one of Emmett's boys to follow me, so don't worry. I'll be fine."

"'Kay," I whispered, kissing her one more time before letting her leave the room.

I looked around the room, my eyes resting on the bed. "Well, Bella, this ought to be an interesting night tonight," I said to myself, shaking my head as I pulled my suitcase out.

I gave a glance back at the bed as I shut the bathroom door a minute later. "An interesting night, indeed."

**A/N: Do you think they're gonna get it on? :P Leave some love, I know y'all have it!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I own it not, but I do own the sugarfree Redbull for tonight at work. :D**

**A/N: Thanks for the feedback last chapter, guys. Warms my little author's heart. I'm not really sure about this chapter, I think it could have been better, and also its not beta'd, so bear with me and my literary indescretions. Other than that, please enjoy.**

My hand squeaked across the glass of the mirror as I wiped the condensation free, the settled water from the steam of my shower re-dampening my palm. I made a face at the sensation and wiped it dry on the back of my boxer shorts, picking up the hairbrush lying on the counter. _My hair is lucky it's so pretty,_ I thought to myself as I pulled the bristles through the wet mess on my head. My hair is forever in my way, an utter nuisance when playing guitar, or eating, or playing video games, or rolling a joint, or... dare I even think it?... having sex. Always getting caught and pulled, and not in the way I liked it pulled. Some days, I thought heavily of shaving it all off. _It's a damn wonder I even have any left, the way it seems to shed! _I rolled my eyes at the brush in my hand, now once again full of my long dark hair, and I had cleaned it right before I came back into the bathroom with it.

The sound of Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child" shook me out of my hair-obsessed thought process, and I quickly re-entered the bedroom to grab my phone, hoping for once that it wasn't Alice, or Emmett: a call from one of them would have sent me into a panic attack. I let out the breath I had held as I read "Dad" on the lighted screen. I paused with my finger poised to slide it across the screen, to answer it.

If I took this call, I would have to tell him everything. I know my father. I know how he can be. I know how he would definitely react to the news that I had acquired a stalker. But it would also be worse for me if he found out through the police grapevine.

"Hey, Dad," I sighed, placing my phone to my ear as it connected.

"Don't sound so happy to talk to your old man, Bella, jeez," he said sarcastically, and I could picture the look on his face as he rolled his eyes at me through the phone. "It's not... groovy... cool, whatever... to actually _call_ your folks."

"You're so lame," I yawned, replacing my hairbrush onto the dresser mounted to the wall opposite the giant bed. I studied the bed from this angle, narrowing my eyes. _Alice is right... it _is _pretty big. We should be able to make it through the week without– _

"_Isabella!_ Are you even listening to me?"

He'd been talking this whole time, and I was completely checked out with thoughts of Alice and I sharing the same sleeping space. "No, sorry, what did you say?" I turned my back to the bed and instead went to stand at the window to appreciate the view of Seattle at night.

"I said, Leah told us that you called her last night. That was nice of you." I didn't miss the continued sarcasm in his voice.

"Yeah, we talked for a few minutes," I conceded, still staring out of the glass.

"She said you're seeing someone," he went on, and I found myself pulling the phone away from my ear just to make sure it was indeed Charlie Swan on the other end of this call. My love life was not usually a subject that Dear Old Dad liked to breach.

"I am," I confirmed, my brow furrowing with the subject matter.

"What's her name?"

"Alice..."

"Does this Alice have a last name?" he asked casually.

"Cullen... Dad, you never ask me about who I am seeing. Why the questions?"

He made a noise like a grunt. "Leah didn't seem too pleased when she told us. I thought maybe it was someone you had gone to school with..."

"Hoping I'd have a reason to move back to Forks, hmm?" I knew that was why he had jumped to conclusions: he hated me being in the city alone. But it was only until recently I truly appreciated his point of view.

"What?" he said airily. "No, no. I was just asking." He went silent, and I sighed again, knowing this was the moment his peaceful demeanor would shatter.

"Um, I actually have something to tell you, though. But before I do, I want your word that you will not overreact."

"Define 'overreact'," he replied, and I scoffed.

"Dad, please, this is serious... I have a stalker."

"A stalker? What the hell do you mean, a _stalker_?"

I took a deep breath and sat down at the little table to try to explain the story to him, starting with my trip to _La Lune Bleu_, meeting James and Victoria, to Alice being the one to take care of me while James escaped her brothers, to the break in at my apartment.

"HE CAME IN YOUR APARTMENT? BELLA, WHAT THE FUCK? WHAT IS YOUR ADDRESS?" he boomed into my ear, and I jerked the phone away, wincing at the stabbing pain deep in my ear canal.

"DAD! Hold on, I'm not done!" I continued on, telling him about how James had never even turned the knob, but told me things through the door, about the rose, about Emmett and Alice saving me, and Alice taking care of me again. "She rented this hotel room to hide me, and Emmett brought files over from the station, and together we I.D.'d him as James Alexander Chatham. Dad, he did this to Alice in high school. She knew him."

"Oh, he better fucking hope I never _get_ to know him! I'm going to the station, and I am pulling this little bastard's file up on the state database, and I am launching my own investigation of this little prick! Why the _hell_ did you not call me the morning after he drugged you? Why didn't these Cullen people not get in touch with your next of kin?" Oh, he was on a roll.

"I was never in a situation that they had to! Alice took care of me at the club that night, and a week went by with no contact from him. He only broke into my place last night... right after Le– I hung up with Leah." I had almost said "after Leah hung up on me", but that was a world of explaining that I couldn't even touch tonight. I went on to explain how Emmett thought that I might be a mere pawn in James' mind, someone to use in his quest for Alice, and that Alice and her son were both now in hiding, as well.

"Emmett Cullen? Is that who I need to talk to when I call the Seattle P.D. and tell them how to do their goddamn jobs?"

"Dad... Emmett is a good guy, and he's on our side. If you talk to him like he's a human being, I am sure he'd tell you everything that he knows." I was positive of that, especially with Dad being an officer as well as my father.

He took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to calm himself down, and I waited for his response, as I knew this one would be his final. Dad had already had all that his heart could take without sending him into cardiac arrest. "Bella, I am coming to Seattle tomorrow, and I am going to meet this Cullen fellow to discuss your case... and you need to come home with me."

"No."

He was deathly quiet, and I knew he wasn't believing his ears. "What?" he finally said, and I cleared my throat.

"No," I annunciated clearly. "I am not letting him scare me off, and I am for damn sure not leaving Alice to deal with this alone. What would that be, knowing how she has been there for me through all of this, even before we knew who was behind it?"

"Bells, I understand that, but you can't place yourself in the line of fire for someone you barely know." He was struggling to keep a calm tone, and I could hear his desperate temper lying just beneath the facade.

"She has," I pointed out. "We care about each other, and we're not going to split up. We're in this together."

"This better be one hell of a good catch, for you to go off being ridiculous and losing every ounce of self-preservation I taught you to have!"

"A _good_ catch?" I said quietly, my eyes sliding over to my guitar case. Love was calling. "No, Dad... she's _the_ catch, and I am reeling my line in and closing the tackle box."

He sighed. "Okay, well, I want to meet her tomorrow, too. I'll be down early, so where will you be?"

"At work," I answered automatically. "I open the store tomorrow morning at nine, and I get off at four. I can meet you somewhere after then."

"Okay... are you safe for the night?"

"Yes, Dad, Emmett has guys all over this place," I assured him, and he grunted in approval.

"Well, good night. I'll see you tomorrow."

"You betcha." I hung up my phone with a relieved sigh, nearly crumpling into a ball on the floor in my light, liquid state. A huge weight had been lifted with Dad gaining the knowledge, and I hadn't even noticed I was _that_ nervous for him to find out. The events that had happened up until this point had only registered in my mind as things that happened to _me_, in _my_ life, and Dad was a whole other category altogether.

Shaking my head clear of all this, I answered the beckoning that my guitar exuded, flipping up the catches on the old case and lifting its top. There she lay, in all her black lacquered glory; there she lay, my Love. True to form, I ran my fingertips down her strings before wrapping my hand around the neck and lifting her free of her home, slipping her strap over my head and settling her against me as I started to pace the length of the room, strumming random chords with my thumb absentmindedly. Then as I hit a succession of three particular chords, it triggered a memory of childhood for me, a song my father listened to on an old country station. After figuring out the first few bars, I opened my mouth to sing along to the music. "Delta Dawn, what's that flower you have on? Could it be a faded rose from days gone by? And did I hear you say, you were leaving here today? Take you to his mansion in the sky?" I went on happily, for such a sad, somber song about loved ones leaving this world, and did not notice my audience as I closed the song with that very same verse, until I heard clapping from behind me. I jumped and turned around quickly, prepared to use the extra bulk strapped across my torso for extra leverage, had I needed to get past someone.

"Beautiful," she said, and I breathed a sigh as I recognized Alice's sparkling grin.

"Staring into mirrors again, are we?" I teased her about her choice of adjective, and she rolled her eyes and waved a hand at me.

"I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner. I really love that song, it reminds me of childhood because it was one of those songs my mother would sing as she worked in the kitchen, and I sat at the table with my coloring book and crayons," Alice said reminiscently, walking to the dresser and setting down four duffel bags... and none of which were small.

I pointed a finger at her luggage, my mouth open in shock. _How the hell did she get those up here?_

"What?" she asked blankly, looking from me to her bags, and then back.

"What did you pack? Your whole wardrobe?"

Alice gave me a bewildered look. "No, not by a long shot. I packed the essentials, and even so, I packed lightly."

"Light-ly?" I said in a hushed tone, making it two separate words.

"Yes, lightly," she affirmed with a nod, unzipping one of them. "This one is my night wear, this one is my day wear, this one is my shoes, and this one is my make up." She touched each in turn to specify, and I just slowly shook my head from side to side, wondering at this tiny enigma that was steadily wrapping me around her little finger. If this was only a portion of her clothes, I would hate to see this girl's closet.

"So, are you going to play for me when I get out of the shower?"

This random question snapped me out of my thoughts about house-sized closets and shoe racks, and my eyes focused on her face, which was innocently staring back at me. "Huh? You want me to play for you?"

"Only if it's not any trouble," she replied quickly, as if she were afraid of offending me with her query.

"Well, what would you want to hear?"

"Depends... will you sing for me, too?"

My face turned crimson with the question, and my throat shut tightly in its resolve to not let me speak at all. I opened my mouth and tried to reply, but had to clear my throat of its self-imposed obstruction. "S-sure... What song, and I'll tell you if I know it."

Alice placed a finger on her chin in thought, looking up to the ceiling as if it held all her answers. "Do you know 'Tuesday's Gone'? By Lynyrd Skynyrd?" she finally asked, and as if answering for themselves, my fingers automatically began to play the song. I watched Alice's face split into a wide smile. "Perfect. I won't be long."

She practically snatched clothes from the bag she had opened and sprinted into the bathroom, the door slamming behind her and water beginning to run simultaneously. I tried to swallow a lump of nerves, but discovered my throat was dry when the muscles rubbed together uncomfortably. A bottle of water sat on the table at room temperature from earlier, so I grabbed it and chugged it half down, feeling a little better when I swallowed again and the muscles slid together and apart as they should. Alice wanted me to play for her, sing for her. My hands started to sweat, and I felt a little dizzy, so I perched at the end of the bed and tried to concentrate on the tune in my head as I lightly strummed the strings, humming the lyrics under my breath, making sure I still had the song memorized. It had been years since I'd played this particular song, one of my father's favorites that I had learned and played for him on one of his birthdays.

I played through the entire song softly, finally satisfied that I wouldn't fuck up too badly, especially with the riff towards the end. Smiling to myself, I took a deep breath when I noticed the absence of the shower running from behind the still-closed bathroom door, and tried not picture Alice standing in there naked and dripping wet. I rubbed my eyes to try to dislodge the image I had burned into my retinas of her, my mind's eye watching her dragging the fluffy white towel over her skin slowly, absorbing the drops of moisture between her breasts, and the ones that rolled down her tight belly to the shadowy place at the apex of her thighs... god, how I wished I could be a drop of water on her body. The drops from her wet hair would take the exact path that my lips were dying to taste... down her neck, perhaps pooling in the hollow of her collarbone until she shifted, then pulling slowly down her torso... I shuddered and bit back the sigh of pleasure at the thought.

_One day, _I told myself, _you can follow that path_.

The sound of the door opening brought me back to reality, reality being that Alice was emerging into the room still rubbing a towel through her inky hair, but fully dressed in a matching light blue silk pajama set. The top was button down, and she had only buttoned it in the middle, leaving the top open enough to catch just the slightest hint of the sexy bust beneath it, and the bottom fell open to show her little silver barbell impaled through the top of her bellybutton. The bottoms of the set were tiny shorts, ones that showed the round cheeks of her ass set high on beautiful thighs. My hands twitched at my sides, wanting to grab her right there, filling my palms with that same roundness, and use them as leverage when I thrusted against her. Shuddering at the thought, I felt my mouth water, and I swallowed hard, looking away just as she looked at me, catching me in mid eye-fuck. Her giggle sent my blush roaring through my face.

"Like something?" she asked playfully, giving me a wink when I looked up at her guiltily, my apology on the tip of my tongue. "Don't apologize," she reprimanded me, reading the expression on my face. "I don't mind it when you look at me, Bella. You know that."

I wondered briefly if she would mind the images I had in my head moments before she appeared from that bathroom looking like a sex goddess in what I was sure was the most modest set of nightwear she owned. I wondered if she would mind the fact that my entire being was pounding with her name.

I watched in complete awe as she came over to the bed and sat beside me, crossing her legs and looking at me pointedly for a second, until I remembered what I was supposed to be doing. "Oh! Now?" I asked, feeling my heart begin to pound harder with the thought that I was about to actually sing and play a song for a girl I had never wanted so badly as I did at that moment.

"Please?" My eyes slowly slid up from Love and settled on her dark blues eyes at her soft pleading, feeling a thrill run through me at the tone of her request, my mind automatically turning it into a fantasy of her breathing that very word into my ear in a very different situation.

Wordlessly, I began to strum the notes, unable to break my gaze from hers, until she looked down at my hands as I played the intro to the song, and she kept her gaze locked onto them until I started to sing the first verse. "Train roll on, on down the line. Won't you please take me far away? Now I feel the wind blow outside my door, meantime I leave my woman at home, Lord and– Tuesday's gone with the wind... Oh, my baby's gone with the wind..." I played her song for her, and she was looking at me with an unidentifiable emotion by the time I reached the closing verse: "Train roll on... Ahh on... 'Cause my baby's gone. I'm riding my blues away, trying to ride my blues away... Ride on train... Ride on train... Goodbye Tuesday, goodbye Tuesday... Ahh train..."

I let my voice die out with the last note, and braved a glance up at Alice as I slid Love's strap over my head and set her off to one side. She was staring at me with her eyes darkened in some semblance of lust, and my heart, which had calmed to a mere normal pulse, sped right back up at what I was reading in her expression. "Alice?" I said uncertainly, and it seemed that hearing her name brought her back from where she had been, and her eyes cleared somewhat.

"Sorry," she mumbled, a faint blush rising in her face. "I just... that was perfect, Bella. Like, I want it on a CD so I can listen to it whenever I want," she told me, moving closer to me now that Love was resting on my other side. "I love your voice and the sound of your guitar... its like you're caressing me all over, and it makes me want to..." She leaned forward and pressed her lips against mine sweetly, making my heart sputter to a stop in my chest, then return with a deafening thud in my ears when she tasted my bottom lip with the tip of her tongue.

Somehow, she straddled my lap, and my hands found their way to the back of those very same thighs they had itched to touch earlier, and I pulled into me, making her gasp into my mouth as her center rested flush against my stomach. Her fingers tangled themselves in my still-damp hair and pulled just how I liked, and I couldn't stop the pathetic whimper that escaped my throat as she pushed herself against me.

I could already feel how wet I was getting, the evidence being the slick feeling as I rolled us over so that I hovered over her, moving my mouth to her neck, catching her flesh between my teeth and pulling lightly. She turned her face to the right, leaving more room for me to kiss and nibble, and her thighs locked onto my hips as they gave an involuntary roll against her, and she moaned into my shoulder, biting through my shirt, as her hands traveled down my back and rested on the top of my ass, pulling me further into her for friction.

She tasted like she smelled, like the sweet, tangy flavor of a perfectly ripened strawberry, and as I crashed my mouth back down on hers, I couldn't help but notice how strawberry red her lips were tinted as they rested, slightly open as she panted in her arousal. Everyone who knows me, knows that I have been obsessed with strawberries all my life.

I had told myself that I would not jump into this with her at the first given chance, and just look at me. My hands were running across her exposed stomach between us, flicking and pulling at the piercing in her navel, and her hands were up the back of my shirt, her nails embedded in the skin of my shoulder blades. I'd been in this very position with girls I had only met that same night, and even with one that I had known my entire life, yet I had never felt the emotion running through me before as I felt it now. This was more than just what my body wanted; it was what my heart craved, to be this close to her, to be this intimate with the one it recognized as its other half. The feeling of arousal in my boxers paled in comparison with this defining heat in my chest, this... feeling... that only Alice had ever invoked in me.

But I didn't want it to be like this. I wanted to prove to her that I wanted more from her than this.

But how to stop? How, when my hips rolled against my will, and my thumbs circled closer and closer to the underside of her breast? How, when she was holding onto me so tightly that it was a wonder that I could breathe? And dear God, how, when she put her hot mouth against my ear and breathed those words: "Bella, _please_."?

How?

Without a frustrated growl, I pushed myself off of her and flung myself to the top of the bed. "Alice... I want you," I panted, blinking rapidly, and running my fingers through my hair to pull it from my face.

"Have me," she answered simply, breathlessly, her chest heaving with every breath she took.

I shook my head. That wasn't what I meant, though I indeed wanted her like that, as well. It just wasn't happening tonight.

"No, not like that, not tonight," I said softly, and I saw a flash of hurt run through her eyes, and I patted the bed next to me so that she would come up and sit with me. She crawled up the length of the bed and flopped down next to me, but I noticed she left a significant amount of space between us. I frowned, not liking that implication at all, and pulled her against me, where she stiffened at first, but then slowly relaxed into me as I began to run my fingers through her hair. "I meant that I want _you_. I want the title, the responsibility, the rights... I want to be your girlfriend."

"Bella..." She turned her face into my neck and placed a light kiss there that made me shiver and smile. "Sometimes, things happen in a way that those titles don't need to be acknowledged. Rosalie kind of made me realize that this morning when she referred to you as my girlfriend. So I think it goes without saying, that's what you are... we are together."

I was silent, stroking her hair idly for quite some time before I realized that my Alice had fallen asleep right there on my chest, breathing slowly against me with her arm curled around my waist. I slid down onto my back without jostling her too much, and she sighed in her sleep and snuggled further down into me, her arm tightening just a smidgen. I closed my eyes with a contented smile, thinking that the night couldn't have been more perfect, even if we had crossed that line. The knowledge that she was mine was more than enough fuel for sweet dreams.

**"Delta Dawn" music and lyrics are Tanya Tucker's, not mine. "Tuesday's Gone" music and lyrics... well, if you don't know that song, something is wrong with you :P jk it's Lynyrd Skynyrd, the best southern rock band ever... well, besides Bad Company. But I digress.**

**I chose "Delta Dawn" as a tribute to my aunt, who passed away Friday, August 5th. She was special to me in the way that it was she who I told that I am gay, and expressed to her my doubts about telling her mother (RIP MawMaw), and her younger sister. It was my Aunt Becca that looked at me and told me at fifteen years old: "Baby girl, I love you no matter who you love. Your MawMaw and your Aunt Deba love you just the same... and besides, your MawMaw called it out when you were only two." She was a balance in my life that is no longer there, and I took it hard. **

**I dedicate this chapter to my Aunt, Rebecca Dawn Bransford Sloan. I miss you, we miss you. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: Twilight and all its propaganda are precious property of one Stephenie Meyer. (Did ya like that pr- word play? Unintentional. Swear.)**

**A/N: Thank you all for your kind words and condolences regarding the loss of my Aunt. It really did make me feel better :)**

**This chapter isn't my favorite, but it is the longest one as of yet. I hope it suits you guys' needs.**

**Shout outs and short review responses: aurike (always special, as you were my first fan here), SOFisticated 1 (glad you caught on about Bella and her guitar... it is very much a romance, but not in a twisted way), lynettecullen, bleach number 1 fan, Secretly Immortal (I was very lucky, I agree. And thank you lol I enjoy your work, too )), Villemo79 (because you are just AWESOME), chaseherchiss, Cloudstrife3180 (HA! FINALLY GOT YOU IN :P), Shabbacabba the Great (who is also AWESOME), Hollowgo (without whom, I would have quit posting here months ago), ritsuMonkey7, WildImagination28 (you already know EVERYTHING that I refuse to post here...), Kai Xavier (thank you :D I try not to go into smutty smut smut... taste is everything in these situations!), jlyric, Beetlebum101 (glad you approved of my song choices, that means a lot from a fellow guitarist :)), DerFlash (that is awesome you read that to the song.. warms my little fanfic author's heart), Aidis (sorry to piss on your manly man parade lmao I'll try not to take your candy away next time, ok?), Random Peep (I thought it was cute, too... I was like 'Aww Bella!'), hankthefluuphiwaffle (still can't get over that name!)... and to everyone else, I love you guys, I just as too busy to get on here to say so! Forgive me.**

**Thanks to Hollowgo for his Beta work. **

**AlicePOV:**

I woke up in an utter state of euphoria the next morning; my first inhale of the day brought the scent of _Axe _body spray, _Dark Temptations_, different from the _Phoenix_ brand I'd bought for C.J. That smell that entered my nostrils could only mean that Bella was there, and the heat beneath my cheek was radiating from her form, and last night was no teasing dream.

She had played for me, played me a very tender song of my choice, and every stroke her thumb made across the taut, bronze colored strings of the guitar she had so adequately called Love felt as though she were running her roughened fingers all across my body from the inside out. I swallowed the tiny moan I felt build at the memory, the ghosts of her hands on me after, the heat of her breath in my ear as we moved together... She was right, it was too soon, and it wasn't right to find that particular solace in each other due to the anxiety and fear our situation struck in our hearts. The emotions and feelings we shared were too good for that, too good for _him_ to be the orchestrator of our intimacy.

Her request to officialize what had been official from the time I laid eyes on her warmed my chest, and I smiled before I ever even opened my eyes to the dimly lit hotel room we shared.

Her breath was still slow and even under my ear, and her heart pumped slowly, methodically, and I found myself just counting the beats as I lay in my own paradise, my hold on her body tightening instinctively. Was it possible to fall in love with someone so soon, so abruptly? It jarred me that I indeed felt like the stirring in my gut was quickly morphing into a certainty that this was more than your run of the mill 'Oh, I like her, but it's too soon to tell' kind of thing.

She meant so much. _So _much.

I shifted on her chest, and her arm closed over me, and her hand sought my own as her breathing changed, and I knew the movement had woken her from her slumber. I allowed our fingers to interlock, still smiling to myself, as I felt so privileged to be the one she held.

And she was mine...

Though both knew the other was awake, neither of us spoke for a few minutes, and she ran her thumb in tiny circles over the back of my hand for a moment before pulling that same hand to her lips, planting a light kiss right where she had traced her target. I sighed dreamily and burrowed further into her soft chest, loving the complete feeling I had for the first time in my life. I knew that it was this, and her, that was the beginning to an end to a beginning of an end.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Her whisper pulled me out of my contemplative reflection of what she meant to me.

"How many pennies?" I whispered back, and she chuckled before letting go of my hand to stretch beneath me, a long groan of satisfaction accompanying the movement. I tried not to let that sound feed my imagination, but it was guttural and deep, and raw. Was I nymphomaniac in the sense that I constantly craved a touch that I barely experienced the night before? Was that even possible?

"Five," she answered as I turned over on my belly, but left my chin propped against her breast, and she tilted her face down to show me her smirk.

"Well, could I have a nickel instead then?" I asked hopefully.

"Alice, you're impossible," she said aloud, laughing for real.

"I like shiny stuff."

"I'd give you as many nickels as I could find if you would just tell me what you were thinking."

"About you, of course," I told her truthfully, and I watched her cheeks as they turned a slight shade of pink, then a bright red, and I couldn't repress my resulting giggle. I loved that I could make her do that. She blushed so easily.

However, I wanted to dance around telling her what I was truly thinking, because I did not want to alarm her with my inklings that I could already be falling for her. I did not even want to acknowledge it out loud, period. Doing so would make it real. I wasn't ready for real, and I didn't think Bella was ready, either. "Thank you for playing for me last night, it was amazing. And I'm sorry that I kind of... attacked you," I mumbled, saying things I wanted to say to distract her from digging any deeper into things. I could skim the surface for her, at least.

A smile stretched across her face at my gratitude, then fell into a frown as I apologized for my instigation of the... events, mind fritzing and soul shattering events... that followed the song. I had wanted to say to her last night, "I love the sound of your voice and the sound of your guitar. It's like you're caressing me all over, and it makes me want to make love to you." However, I had trailed off the important part and proceeded to _show_ her what I had in mind.

I was ashamed. I should have had better control. I was spellbound, that is my only defense. I had not moved that fast with anyone but Z, but as I say... I went into that knowing what I was getting into. It had been made very clear to me when we met.

She opened her mouth to reply, but I cut her off, looking away as I turned red for once. "I hope I didn't seem like I was just... putting out," I said, my face screwing up in disgust.

She exhaled sharply, her lips tightening into a hard line that made me a little wary about what she was about to say. "That was just as much my fault. I wanted it as much you did, and it took some _major _self pep talk to even pull away from you. I don't think you realize how close we came, but Alice... I was raring to go," she told me quietly, and her voice dropped even lower on the last part.

My body shivered at the information, not able to stop images of what might have happened had it gone any further, and Bella let her head fall back onto the pillow with a sigh, reaching over for her phone. "It's seven... and I already have a missed call from Dad. He must be here already," she murmured, and my ears perked at what she said.

"Your dad is in Seattle?" I asked in surprise, rising up from her chest so that she could pull herself up into a sitting position, and she gave me a sheepish look.

"Yeah, about that... Um, I forgot to tell you, because I was... well, we were–"

"Got it, Bells," I laughed, and she stopped, giving me a funny look. I gave her a questioning look in response, and she slowly shook her head, a single chuckle shaking her chest.

"My closest friends and family all call me that... my dad called me that right after I was born, so technically I've been called Bells longer than Bella."

"Does anyone ever call you by your proper name?" I was curious... I had only heard her say it once, and it sounded like she was speaking a language she wasn't familiar with.

"Dad, Sue, Leah... all when they're pissed off at me. But that's about it," she replied, and I felt a pang of jealousy at the mention of Leah's name.

I had seen a photo of Leah the day before, and saw for myself how pretty she was, even as young as they were in the picture. And the knowledge that it was taken in their time together... they looked so happy, both of them... all of them. I wanted that with her one day... to stand beside her in a picture, smiling like crazy, only to look at it years later with her, and know that it's a part of _our _past together. I suppose I was jealous that Leah knew Bella, whereas I certainly didn't, but was developing fast emotions for her, nonetheless. Emotions that were strong enough to cause me to be jealous of a person I knew she was no longer involved with, and someone I could not expect her to expel from her life, as Leah happened to be her step-sister.

"But we're floating off subject," she said pointedly, and I made a show of giving her my full attention, helping to push the Leah thing out of my head. "I told him about what has been going on, and he was pretty livid that I didn't tell him sooner, and that I refuse to come back to Forks with him when he leaves today."

Something inside of me shrank back in fear at the thought of her being too far out of my sight or arm's reach, and my hand shot out to clasp her wrist by reflex, making her pause and look down at where I was gripping her. "Alice," she said softly, looking back up to my face, "I'm not going anywhere. I am twenty-two, I will be twenty-three in two months, and there is absolutely nothing he can do about the choices I make in my life."

"If you're not leaving, why is he coming?" I asked in a volume to match hers, and she covered my hand around her wrist with her opposite hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

"He wants to see Emmett, and anyone else who is working on this case... and he wants to meet you." She said the tail end in a guilty whisper, but I caught what she was saying, anyway.

Her father wanted to meet me? While I was living out of duffel bags for a _week_? God, I had _nothing_ with me to _wear!_ I went into fashion panic mode, and shot up out of the bed to rifle through my bags, because Emmett had made it understood yesterday that I would not be able to return to the house until James was in custody and this whole thing had blown over. _Shit!_ I turned on a lamp to be able to see what I was doing, and Bella let go of a groan of protest behind me at the sudden brightness of the room.

"What are you doing?" she said, covering her face with the crook of her arm.

"Trying to find _something_ appropriate to wear when I meet your father today," I returned, and shot a playful glare at her when she began to laugh.

"I knew it! You're a total fashion queen," she guffawed, and I rose to my full height (which isn't much), placing my hands firmly on my hips as I continued to glare at her.

"What exactly are you trying to imply, hmm?" I asked her, and she just laughed harder.

"Nothing," she panted a second later, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. "It's cute, Alice, don't worry. I like it, it's... so you."

I rolled my eyes as I turned to continue my mission. Of course, it was me. I loved clothes. I loved shoes even more. But most of all, I just liked to _shop._ And I hated to tell my darling girl that she was due for a long shopping trip in the near future, my treat. I had some ideas about some different styles for her that I wanted to experiment with, and I really, _really_ wanted to get her into a skirt or a dress. I felt another tremor run through my muscles at the thought.

Bella also slid free of the bed, stretching her longer frame again as she came to rest on her feet, and nearly losing balance and falling back onto the mattress. "My dad isn't hard to please, I promise. He's going to flip when he sees how beautiful you are... as long as you show up smiling that grin of yours, you could be dressed in overalls and a plaid shirt and he wouldn't notice."

I cringed horribly at the nightmare of an image that sent through my head, and she laughed at the way my face screwed up.

"Can't handle overalls?" she drawled teasingly as she crossed the room towards me, sliding her arms around me from behind and pulling me upright against her.

"God, no," I spat, shuddering hard, and not in pleasure this time. Overalls and plaid shirts were just... _wrong. _But then I felt the press of her warm lips on the nape of my neck, resulting in a whimper from my throat as I melted back into her, just like putty.

She continued on a tiny path of three gentle lip presses, until she reached my ear. "Does that mean I have to throw all of my pairs away?" she whispered jokingly, and I snickered, shoving an elbow into her ribs, but not hard enough to really hurt her.

"Shut up," I laughed, flipping around in her arms, pushing myself up on my toes to reach her lips with mine. "Get ready, I have to drop you off at work soon, then come back here and get dressed to meet Mr. Swan."

"Chief," Bella corrected me with a grin. "He likes that."

I nodded, storing the information for later. _Chief Swan_. It sounded so official. Intimidating. I was dating a police chief's daughter. But then again, she was dating a detective's sister. But Emmett was no threat to her... he had already told me that he would overlook whatever bong he saw in her apartment. _It's as if it was never there; tell her to ask me, and I'll tell her where I stashed it._ I shook my head at the memory of that phone call yesterday. My brother is a big, muscle-bound softie, and he liked Bella. He thinks she really likes me.

"What was that about?" she asked me when I gave that minuscule gesture, and I looked at her with a tiny grin.

"Emmett found your bong," I told her, watching as the pink tint in her cheeks paled to a pasty white and her face fell into a shock. "No, no, calm down," I told her with a giggle, waving my hand at her fear. "He's not going to turn you in for smoking that stuff. It's not even a blip on Emmett's radar of criminalism."

"Are you sure?" she asked in hushed whisper, and I nodded confidently.

"He stashed it in the hall closet, at the wall on the highest shelf. He said to tell you 'you're welcome', too." I watched as her face softened into confusion, then a slow realization that Emmett had looked out for her, as we knew the place had to be routinely searched for a break-in and verbal threat such as what had happened. Bella had forgotten all about that paraphernalia. "Now hurry up, get your stuff together, or you're going to be late."

She tilted her mouth up on one side, making a tingle run through my belly. "Yes, _ma'am._ You sound like my father."

"Whom I have to meet in a little while. Now, _scoot!_"

I watched out of the corner of my eye as she barely glanced at the pants and t-shirt she retrieved from her single suitcase, sighing inwardly at the possibilities of diversity available to her features wasted with every band tee she owned. But a part of me felt ashamed that I found it adorable because it was Bella. She entered the bathroom first, knowing I would probably take a little longer than she would, and I proceeded to freak a little that all I could find that was worth a damn to wear was a pair of white tennis shorts, with a light yellow top. I figured that if this was a personal meeting, I shouldn't dress as if I were going to a business deal. A simple pair of white Keds, and I would be okay for the moment. Once I finished getting ready, I would probably hate the clothing choice, and try again once I dropped Bella off at the store.

* * *

><p>"I know you like old rock, but is there any more contemporary bands that you like?" Bella asked me once we were in my car, leaving her truck sitting in the parking garage, directly beneath a camera. It was Emmett's idea, of course, somewhat of a bait for James, if he decided to show is ugly face anywhere near us.<p>

"Mmm, sure," I answered, glancing over at her as she fumbled with the auxiliary cord to the radio in my car, plugging it into a iPod Touch. "What did you have in mind?"

"Patience," she murmured, scrolling her finger up and down the screen of the device, looking hard for something in particular, I could tell. A few seconds later, I smirked at the two rim shots that led into Deftones' "My Own Summer (Shove It)". Oh, the memories of middle school.

She was looking at me silently, awaiting a sign of recognition from me, but I didn't give it to her until the first verse started, and began singing along a little, and she grinned, and looked back down at the screen as she moved her finger around again, and then I heard the soft guitar intro to "Heart-Shaped Box" by Nirvana. Once again, I began to sing along as the lyrics began. Her smile growing impossibly wider, she changed the song to "Bullet With the Butterfly Wings" by the Smashing Pumpkins, and I started bouncing in my seat to the beat of the bass drum beneath the wheel as we waited for a break in traffic for me to make a right hand turn from the parking deck. "The world is a vampire," I said loudly, yelling it out of my window, and Bella cracked up in my passenger seat, her head falling back against the seat as she laughed at my shenanigans, being crazy throughout the entire first verse and first chorus.

"Okay, you've passed tests on three of my favorite bands... how about... this?" she said with a satisfied smirk a minute later, playing a new song. I returned her smirk, only mine might have been a little cocky.

"Help me if you can, it's just that this is not the way I'm wired, so could you please help me understand why you're giving in to all these reckless dark desires, you're– lying to yourself again, suicidal imbecile, think about it, put it on the fault line. What'll it take to get through to you, precious? Over this, why do you wanna throw it away like this? Such a mess, I don't wanna watch you... Disconnect and self-destruct one bullet at a time, what's your rush now, everyone will have his day to die..." We sang this one together, and actually made it all the way to the end of it, both of us with happy grins at our similar taste in music, though I was sure she wasn't into some of the R&B, or rap music I was inclined to indulge at times.

"I love A Perfect Circle," she sighed at the end, and I nodded in agreement.

"Tool is his better band, though," I said for clarification, but then she looked at me like I had told her Jimi Hendrix was in the back seat.

"What? No way! I mean, they're good, but they don't have Billy Howerdell on guitar. He is what _makes_ A Perfect Circle, aside from Maynard's voice. Have you ever _seen_ APC live? God, his sound manipulation and the rhythm of his hands are almost enough for me to consider giving up girls for good, if he would give me a chance! It's so fucking... _sexy._"

I smiled at the passion in her voice when she spoke of guitars and music and the people who created it. I loved that it was what made her Bella. She personified guitarists everywhere for me, and from the moment I saw her until I closed my eyes and breathed my last, the sound or sight of a guitar would always make me think of her.

* * *

><p><strong>BellaPOV:<strong>

I can't say I was surprised to see my father's red Ford F-150 parked in the parking lot adjacent to Volturi Music, and I groaned at the sight. "Oh, man, Dad's here," I told Alice, who I saw visibly stiffen at the information. She was so nervous to meet him, but I couldn't blame her. I was nervous to meet her parents, as well, only I would be living with them. At least I wasn't asking her to move to Forks and live in harmony with my old man and his wife, not to mention Leah, who still lived at home.

"I have to change before I meet him... Ugh, I give up, I am going shopping. I'll call you in a little bit, and let you know what time to meet me, and where," she said distractedly, and I could just see the wheels of fashion spinning in her head.

"Go pick up Rose and C.J.," I suggested, not liking the idea of her being alone in public at the given time. "Make a day of it, and I will call you when I am off work." I went to open the door, but the sensation of her hand on my left forearm stopped me, and I looked over to her. Her face was set in an almost-pout, her navy eyes searching my face pitifully, her bottom lip extending somewhat. "Hey, it's all right," I whispered, reaching over and touching the tip of her cute little up-turned nose, then placing the same hand on her neck to pull her face to mine for a small but loving kiss. "Don't be nervous," I added when I pulled back.

"Okay," she whispered, swallowing audibly. "I'll see you this afternoon."

"Yes, you will," I replied, grinning at the thought as I opened my door. "Have fun shopping, and tell C.J. I said hello and that I miss him."

I really did, too. That boy brought such a smile to my face with his questions and observations, too deep for a six year old to harbor. Just like his mother, he was definitely one of a kind.

She nodded, and I saw her eyes fall to my lips. "One more? For the road?" she requested, a tiny smile playing around her mouth, and I laughed, leaning to kiss her one more time.

"Be careful today," I said against her lips before I pressed mine against them for the final time and stood up out of the car.

"I will. I'll keep you updated."

I shut the door with a sigh, and she sped off, the engine of her yellow Beemer whirring excitedly with the acceleration. I shook my head at the sight as she peeled tires a little when she shot out into the semi-busy street, barely pausing to glance for traffic. Quirks like that made me feel fuzzy inside, I couldn't explain it. It was just so _Alice_.

I shifted my eyes to my father's truck and saw his silhouette moving on the driver's side, and then the door swung open, and the boots I saw emerge and hit the ground were unmistakable. I did not realize until that moment how much I had truly missed him.

I broke into a run, and no sooner than he had shut the door to the truck, I flung myself into his arms, burying my face into the pressed and starched material of his uniform shirt. It was scratchy and rough, just like I remembered, and his cologne had not changed since Sue had bought him his first bottle when I was a young teenager. _Obsession _by Calvin Klein. I couldn't remember him wearing anything but Old Spice aftershave beforehand.

"I missed you, too," he said gruffly into my hair as his arms closed around me for a brief squeeze, and then he let go so he could move back and look at me. I watched his dark brown eyes move over me as he surveyed me, and he nodded to himself when he was satisfied. "You look good, kid," he said, and I smiled.

"I feel good... well, besides the drama that magically appeared in my life a few weeks ago. But even that isn't enough to keep me down, Dad," I answered with a grin, which he returned.

"She's something else, huh? I don't think I've ever seen you shine like this, Bells." He smoothed down his mustache thoughtfully, and I blushed under his steady gaze.

"Want to walk me in? I am _this_ close to being late," I said, holding my fingers a half an inch apart. We started walking across the parking lot, my dad looking at the buildings, the street, the rest of the lot... I realized with a start that he was looking for any sign of James. The thought made my good spirits sink as I remembered the reason he felt compelled to come to Seattle.

"I met your friend Emmett this morning. I like him. He seems to know what he's doing, and has a pretty good sense of humor for a boy who looks like he never sleeps," Dad said as we came closer to the front doors.

"It's only recently he's not slept," I admitted, feeling responsible for Emmett's endless days. "James has him on the go, twenty-four-seven."

"He let it become personal, because it involves his family," Dad commented. "I don't blame him, though. I feel this is personal, too."

He patted my shoulder as we entered the air-conditioned building, and I took a deep breath as always as I crossed the threshold. I love the smell of this place, it was that deep, wooden scent, much like the smell of a reed to a woodwind instrument. I also grinned because Jane had put on Led Zeppelin, and I entered the store to the sounds of "Whole Lotta Love", which made Dad chuckle.

Aro was at the front desk with Jane, both of them poring over a binder of numbers, and I knew Jane had it in her head that when her dear old Uncle Aro died, that Volturi Music, Inc, would become hers. I shivered at the thought of working for the woman. She was cold, and had no conscience, not caring who was hurt in her endeavors as long as her goal was obtained. I watched this the one time I had gone out for drinks with her, and she shot men down like flies, and only gave in to one when she was so bored she could have fallen asleep on top of the guy.

When we approached, Aro looked up and he smiled his creeper-smile when he saw me, but then it slid right off his wrinkled face when his eyes took in the imposing, uniformed man standing beside me. "Well, Bella, good morning," he said in his light, wheezy voice. "Who do we have here?" he went on, referring to Dad.

"This is my father, Charlie Swan. Dad, this is my boss, the owner, Aro Volturi, and his niece, Jane Volturi."

Jane barely glanced up from her reports to give my father a tight smile before going back to what she was doing with her highlighter, and Aro stuck a spotted hand out to Dad, which he took in a brief handshake.

"My pleasure, Mr. Swan," Aro said in a sickly sweet way, and it made me have to suppress a shudder.

"Call me Chief," Dad said predictably, and Aro's watery eyes shot down to his badge and back to his face.

"Very well, Chief," he amended, nodding slightly. "To what do I owe the pleasure of meeting you this fine morning?"

Dad gave a glance down at me, his mouth fitting into a thin line, and then with a sigh he looked back up to Aro. "Do you have an office in which we could speak privately?" he asked my boss, and my brow furrowed with confusion about what he was doing. Surely he wasn't going to tell Aro my personal business.

"Of course, of course. Follow me."

"Dad..." I tried to warn him not to do that, but he waved an impatient hand at me.

"He needs to know, Bells... I'll be right back out."

I gave a long sigh as they both disappeared behind Aro's office door, and Jane didn't look up as she asked in the most indifferent and uninterested tone I have ever heard, "What's going on?"

"I... have a stalker," I answered lamely, and at this, Jane did look up. There was a small smile on her face, like she thought I was joking.

"_You_ have a stalker? You?" she asked, barely holding in her laughter.

_What the hell is that supposed to mean?_

I told her the story about the man, the break-in, and the investigation. She took it all in silently, that little smile still on her face, and then she outright laughed when I told her that he had stalked Alice in high school. That made my temper hot.

"What the fuck is so funny about that?" I asked her heatedly, and she shook her head, her shoulders still shaking with her humor.

"He's an idiot. Don't worry, they'll catch him and his little girlfriend."

_I didn't mention Victoria. _A chill shot through me, and I swallowed hard as Jane looked back down at the computer print outs. I stared at her black hair, slicked back into a tight bun, and let my eyes travel down her conservative pants suit, to the pale beige heels she was wearing. Jane was a regular to most of the clubs in the area, and in fact, it was she who referred me to _La Lune Bleu _as a nice fishing spot. Something inside of me squelched a little at the thought, but I chose not to call it to her attention that I had not mentioned Victoria, and excused myself to go to the back and clock in, trying to shake this feeling of uneasiness. How the hell had she known about Victoria? Checking around the storeroom a second later, I only saw the two stock boys Felix and Demetri leaned up against the dumpster out back, passing what looked like a pipe back and forth. _Fools to leave the cargo gate up_, I thought to myself as I whipped out my phone to text Emmett and tell him about this feeling I had about Jane, and why I was suspicious.

It only took three minutes for his reply, and I made sure not to exit the back until my phone had chimed with it.

_Charlie is talking to your boss about her right now. I found out some things about Ms. Jane Volturi when I was investigating some of the clubs and bars around here. She is directly linked to James, and if Aro Volturi doesn't cooperate with us, I am going to bust her little ass for the cocaine and heroine she is peddling in the club lines. _I gawked at his reply, reading it five times before what it said began to sink in.

My mouth fell open. No fucking way. No _fucking _way. _Jane? _She is an associate of James Chatham? I was so shocked about this revelation that the fact that Emmett had called my father by his first name escaped my notice completely.

"Bella?"

I jumped at the voice that came from behind me, and I twirled around to meet Jane's grey eyes, which were narrowed at me. "Y-yeah?" I stammered, not knowing how to react to her after what I had just found out.

"You look like you need to sit down. Do you want a glass of water, or something?"

I shook my head, still wide-eyed and staring at her as if we'd never met.

She moved closer to me, and leaned directly into my ear. "If you so much as breathe that I know something about James, I will see to it that it is the last breath you will ever have." She pulled back with a smirk and tapped my open jaw three times, hard. "Now, get to work before I fire you."

**AlicePOV:**

I sat in Rosalie's kitchen with my phone in my hand, my mother's cell phone number glaring up at me from the screen, my lip caught between my teeth, being tugged at impatiently. Why was I so nervous to do this? I knew what they would say. But I was also pretty sure that they had heard from either Emmett, Rose, or Edward that I was involved with Bella, and I didn't want that influence on their decision. I sighed, frustrated with my own cowardice before I sucked in a giant breath and sent the call.

"Hello, dear," my mother said when she answered. She sounded exhausted, but what with running two restaurants and a catering service, I suppose she had every right.

"Hey, Mom," I said, standing up from the barstool I was perched on. I began pacing the length of the kitchen until I felt claustrophobic and stepped out into the back yard, slapping at Hyde when he came running to me, happily drooling all over my white shoes.

"How are you? You sound nervous," Mom said and I gave a weak chuckle.

"I am, a bit," I admitted, and she made a knowing sound in the back of her throat. "Are you busy?" I asked her.

"Kind of, but I always have time for my girl. What's going on, sweetie?"

I ran a hand through my short hair, mussing it up further than its usual disarray, and decided to just spit it out. "I need a huge favor."

"Okay..."

"Have you– do you remember C.J. telling you about his guitar tutor?" I grasped at the one thing my mother always heard every word of– her grandson's voice.

"Bella? Yes, and I already know that you're seeing her. Emmett told me last night, when he asked if she could stay here for a while to hide out from that psycho."

I stopped dead in my tracks and nearly fell out with the onslaught of that information. Emmett had already asked?

"E-Emmett...?" I stuttered, and couldn't even get the full question out.

"Asked if your girlfriend could stay with us, yes," Mom said helpfully, and I could hear the smile in her soft voice.

"Well, w-what did you–?"

"I said it was fine, of course. We're having dinner tonight at the downtown store, with Bella and her father. Emmett arranged it this morning with her father, and I quite agree with him that its best to get the formalities out of the way."

"When were one of you going to tell me this plan?" I huffed, rolling my eyes, but honestly was not very surprised at the news.

My mother laughed. "Oh, sweetheart, don't be disgruntled at your brother. He is excited for you, and for Bella. I can't wait to see the two of you together, Emmett says he's never seen you with anyone that makes you glow like she does."

I blushed violently at the description, though only because I knew it to be true.

The sound of the sliding glass door opening made me jump, and when I turned and saw my beautiful little boy standing there glaring impatiently at me, tapping his foot, I couldn't help but to smile. He was growing up so fast, picking up adult mannerisms, though that particular one came from his Aunt Rosie.

"Mommy, can we go, yet? I am hungry, and I want to ride the carousel at the mall!" he said to me, and I gave him a look that told him to watch his tone, and he blushed as dark as I had moments before.

"Your grandson is ready to go... I guess I will see you tonight. What time are we meeting?" I asked my mother, and she giggled about C.J. and his impatience.

"Seven. Tell my precious boy that his Gramma will see him tonight."

"I will. I love you, Mom. Thank you."

"Mmm-hmm, you are very welcome, Mary Alice. I love you, too."

As I hung up my phone, I made a mental note to warn Bella that my parents and sometimes my siblings often called me by first and middle name combined, something I had not shared with her before. I grinned at my next thought, though. Just as Bella had sprung the Chief on me, I was springing the Doctor and his missus on her.

Dinner with the Cullens, at seven tonight. Bella was going to freak.

**A/N: Lyrics to "The Outsider" belong to Maynard James Keenan and Billy Howerdell, as well as the rest of A Perfect Circle. Don't know them? Try that song. All other songs are credited in text.**

**Soooo... you guys didn't really think I was going to allow Jane to be a marginal character, did you? She's such a wonderful antagonist that I had to pull her into play. And what about Aro? Think he knows more than he lets on? :P So much fun, so many possibilities...**

**I love Tom Petty. "Free Fallin" just came on and I am jamming out over here... too much Redbull, I am sure.**

**Leave the love? I promise I will be better about replying this time lol**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I own it not.**

An hour after Jane's not-so-subtle threat, I was saying goodbye to my father, who was looking at me speculatively, though it was obvious to me why he would do so. I was not the same person who met him out front today, and he knew it had to be something that happened while he was locked in Aro's office with its creepy owner. My father was never a fool.

"I'll call you around lunchtime, and if you can get away, we'll meet up somewhere, okay?" he said to me, and I nodded, not meeting his dark eyes. I instead stared at his mustache, which rustled with the breath of a sigh. "Later, kiddo. Stay inside at all times, unless me or Emmett or one of his boys come for you."

"But Alice is supposed to pick me up," I said, finally looking at him.

He shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck, not making eye contact. I rose an eyebrow because I knew that meant there was something he didn't want to tell me. "I am going to pick you up and take you to the hotel. I guess she'll be there, waiting on you, but for now Emmett is keeping an eye out on his sister. We, uh, are supposed to meet them for dinner at seven... and their parents."

"WHAT?" I screeched, my eyes stretching as wide as they ever had. "When the hell did that happen?"

Dad shrugged his shoulders, but still didn't look at me as he replied, "It was Emmett's idea. He called his mother up to reserve a table, and she suggested we all go." He finally looked at me and then shrugged again, a little more helplessly when my death glare didn't waver. "What did you want me to do, Bells? Besides, you're moving in with them this week, so you have to meet them _sometime_."

I groaned, leaning my head against the glass of the front doors. "I'm not exactly moving _in _with them, Dad. I am renting an apartment in their garage. There's a difference," I argued weakly, and he just chuckled, clapping a hand on my shoulder.

"Looking forward to meeting... what's her name again?"

I gave him a withering look. He knew her name. "Alice," I answered, humoring him. He grinned and gave me a wave before pushing the door open and walking out towards the parking lot.

All of a sudden, as I watched his black uniformed back disappear around the side of the building to his truck, I felt very alone in the store, very vulnerable. I felt like I was prey. At that same time, my cell vibrated once in my pocket, alerting me to a text. Turning back around and walking to the now empty counter, I fished it out of my deep pocket to look at it. It was Alice.

_Remember how you just sprung the news about your father on me this morning? Well, I have somewhat of a surprise for you, as well. :)_

Ha. She thought she was about to spring her parents on me.

_I already know I am having dinner with your parents tonight. And Dad is picking me up from work, because he wants to make sure a badge is with us at all times. Emmett is going to be a stick up your ass today, fair warning._

A full minute had not gone by before my phone went off a second time.

_UGH! _She texted, _That is so not fair! And Emmett's not going to be stuck up anything if he doesn't wake his fat ass up, he's passed out sitting straight up on the sofa. I don't miss hearing him snore, now that we don't live at home anymore._

I felt that pang of guilt again, knowing why he was so exhausted, but I still grinned a little at the image of Emmett passed out with his mouth wide and snoring loudly. It also explained why he hadn't texted me back earlier. Before I could even start to reply to that, another came in, and it was a single question.

_What are you going to wear?_

I glanced around for any sign of Jane or Aro, but they seemed to have locked themselves in his office, and the thought crossed my mind that what if that geezer was in on everything?

_I don't know, I have to look_, I told Alice, who shot a text directly back, as if she already had it typed and ready, no matter what my response would have been.

_Do you trust me?_

I paused, debating that. I did trust her. But I also was wary of allowing her to pick out my clothes. But the part of me that wanted her to know I have faith won out. _Sure_, I told her.

All I got back was a ;)

* * *

><p>I did not see Jane nor Aro for the next few hours, though I did hear muffed yells coming from the office, and I couldn't help but over hear as Aro's voice went louder and deeper than I thought possible. "That was the most <em>idiotic<em> thing you could have done! Christ, girl, are you _slow_? And this fool you've chosen to do business with! You need to screen clients before taking them, you imbecile! And you want _my _company when I am gone? I think not!"

If Aro was referring to James, and everything in me said he was, then it didn't sound like he knew him. I strained my ears to hear something more, but all I got was a hiss of words from Jane that I did not catch, and a resultant scoff from her uncle. I moved away from the door carefully, going back to help one of the cashiers with some customers.

I was on autopilot through that, thinking about how Aro had called James a "client", someone Jane does "business" with. She might be just his dealer, or his proprietress. I couldn't think of any reason to believe she had anything to do with James' fixation on Alice and me. However, I knew she caught herself slipping when she realized that I had not mentioned Victoria, and as result maybe had a slight panic that I figured out that she knew more than she was letting on. As cold as Jane was, she was also intelligent, and there had to be a momentary lapse in judgment when she gave me that ultimatum. Aro was right: that had been pretty stupid of her to confirm what I had only suspected.

Despite what she said, I had full plans on discussing this with Emmett and my father. It's not that I wasn't mindful of her warning, but if getting information from her led to his arrest and Alice's safety, then I could take whatever Jane Volturi handed me. Be it an empty promise, or a bullet between the eyes, I would take either of them for Alice.

* * *

><p><strong>AlicePOV:<strong>

Poke. Poke. **POKE**, _pokepokepokepoke! _I jabbed my finger into my older brother's large chest repeatedly, getting more and more annoyed by the minute of enduring the bear-like growls rumbling through the entire downstairs of his house. "Em! Come on, this was your bright idea to tag along everywhere I fucking walk, so let's go! I don't have all day!" I said heatedly, earning myself a lip smack and a head loll to the left, his full lips vibrating with every deep exhale.

"Rose! A little help, please?" I called over my shoulder towards the stairs, and I heard the floor above me creak with her footsteps as she drew to the top of the stairwell. A jog of footsteps later and she appeared in the archway between the den and the foyer, her eyebrow up in question, her right hand resting on her hip.

"He's exhausted, Alice, what do you expect?" she asked me, and I sighed, tossing my hands up into my hair to tug a little at it in my frustration.

"I know he is, but he was the one who insisted on going shopping with us. I am just trying to save the both of us the annoyance of his lecture when he wakes up and we're gone," I argued, and she rolled her light blue eyes at me.

"Move. Go upstairs and keep C.J. busy until I call for you," she said, exasperated, waving a hand as if to magically remove me from in front of my slumbering brother.

"Oookay," I said slowly, backing away to give her room, and blanking out when she kneeled in front of him.

"Go!" she snapped at me, flinging a hand towards the stairs. "Unless you just _want_ to see me suck–"

"Ugh! Okay okay!" I whipped around and flew up the stairs, trying to ignore the sound of Emmett's zipper being undone.

C.J. was in his room, lying on his bed with his guitar in his hands, a pout on his face. I knocked on his open door, and he sat up quickly, eager to leave. I shook my head and shut the door behind me, and he laid back down slowly, disappointed, and resumed his strumming. I stood there and watched him in silence as he continued to ignore me, and I finally got the picture that he was mad at me.

"Honey... what's wrong?" I asked him softly, though I had an inkling of what it might be.

He shook his head, but his lips pursed with the words he was struggling to hold back, so I knew he would talk if I kept at it.

"Christopher..."

"Nothing," he mumbled, lying his guitar on the bed next to him with a reverence that reminded me strongly of Bella, and folding his arms across his chest, turning his face away from me to look out of the window.

I took a breath, but before I could say anything, he let loose.

"Why can't we go home? Where are_ you_ staying? Why is Uncle Em always at work? I know something's wrong, but since I'm little, no one will tell me anything! It's not fair that I can't be with you. We're like this, remember?" He held up two fingers twisted together, indicating that we were one in the same. "We promised to stick together, no matter what, because we're a team and that's what teams do, Mommy! Remember?"

My heart tightened in my chest, and I felt tears rise over my eyes. We had made that pact when he was four years old, and I did not expect him to remember it, but apparently he had taken that to heart... maybe even more than I had. But he was right. We are a team, and we always have been. He is my sunshine on a rainy day, and I am his support beam when he needs strength, his teacher when he questions, and his guide when he feels lost. The only thing I can't be for him is his father.

"I do," I whispered, a tear sliding down my face despite my efforts to blink it back. "I do remember."

He stood up and crossed the room, wrapping his arms around me, and I reached down and scooped him up in my arms, although he was nearly as tall as me now. I wondered if he would reach Jasper's height of six feet, even if he had my genes, as well. He buried his face in my chest as we both cried a little softly, and he told me he just missed me. "You never spend time with me anymore. I _know_ you're with Bella, and that's okay, but... can I come, too? Please?"

There was no way I was going to be able to keep me and Bella a secret from him. It hurt too much to lie to him, and I didn't want him to hate me for it. There was something about Bella that told me my fears were irrelevant, anyway, as I saw... life... in her eyes. I saw my future mapped out in the warm hues of her chocolate eyes, and felt eternity in her pulse, rippling through me in a perfect rhythm to my own heartbeat.

"Of course you can, sweetie. It's not a problem at all," I answered him, cradling him to me and rocking him a little as I began to pace the room.

From the floor below us, I heard a loud grunt, and a drawn out "RO-SA-LIE!" that made me want to throw up a little. But I had to hand it to the girl: she woke him right up.

"Don't worry, he's okay. He just does that sometimes," C.J. said indifferently as I set him down on his bed, and he automatically picked his guitar back up. "Wanna hear a song I made up?"

"I'd love to," I answered honestly, making a note in my mind to tell my brother to keep his soprano sexual grunts to himself. C.J. grinned at me before his face fell into a hard look as his little fingers found the chords he was looking for.

He really loved this instrument, I could see the beginnings of the same devotion that Bella held, starting in his eyes. He was maturing through his determination to master this talent, and it blew my mind how soon it seemed that I was watching my baby boy grow up right before my eyes. He was only six years old, and his eyes were starting to hold a wisdom that was far beyond his years. How did this perfect little being come from _me_?

The song wasn't bad for a little guy that had only been playing for a few weeks, and I made a silent note to compliment Bella on her tutoring skills. But his song was short-lived.

"Alice, C.J., let's go!" we heard Rosalie's voice come up the stairs over C.J.'s soft melody he was strumming on his little instrument, muffled only by the closed door.

His face lit up, as we were finally leaving, an hour and a half after my arrival. Even in his excitement, he put his guitar back in its case for safe keeping and zipped up the sides, and I didn't miss the way he traced a finger down the closed zipper teeth, almost wistfully. It was like he was in love, as if he were old enough to understand the concept, and appreciate it for what it is worth. I shook my head at another thing that reminded me strongly of Bella. If my son were making me think of her, something was wrong. But it still made me chuckle as I followed C.J. out of his bedroom and down the stairs, where we found Emmett bouncing on the balls of his feet like he had consumed a case of energy drinks.

"Ready?" he asked, with a bright smile, and I couldn't help but to shake my head. He gave me a questioning look, which I answered with a pointed one. He blushed, but cleared his throat and clapped his hands. "Okay, last one in the Jeep is a rotten egg!"

C.J. squealed and took off out of the front door, and Emmett was right behind him, deep down very much still a little boy, himself. Rosalie and I exchanged a look and a giggle before we grabbed our purses and exited the house, but once we were outside, Rose shot me a devious look. I only had just enough time to register what the look was for, when she took off running and was at the passenger side door of Emmett's monster vehicle in three seconds flat.

"Alice is the rotten egg!" she called back to me in a sing song voice, and my mouth fell open, scandalized.

"That was cheating! You didn't give me any warning!" I laughed, finally drawing to the back passenger door as we literally climbed in.

"You know the name of the game, my friend," Rose said with a shit-eating grin, sliding her dark sunglasses over her eyes in the seat in front of me.

"Still–"

"Girls, girls, calm down," Emmett said placatingly from the driver's seat as he began to back out of the driveway. "As you know, we men won the race, anyway," he went on with a simpering smile directed towards his wife, and C.J. gave a yell of celebration from beside me.

Rosalie turned her face to look at him, not saying anything at first, and Emmett's grin faltered just a bit, and I saw the apprehension in his blue eyes. "Remember how I woke you up?" she asked softly, sweetly, after a long fifteen second pause.

Emmett merely nodded, not taking his eyes off the road in front of him.

"Good, because you'll need that when you're waking up by yourself with morning problems," she purred, and Emmett's eyes widened and he shot his wife a horrified look.

"Babe!" he protested, and Rose merely smirked, turning away from him to gaze out of the window.

"Never could keep your mouth shut," I mumbled from behind, and he shot me a glare in the rear view mirror.

"No one asked an opinion from the midget battalion," he popped off, and if my son had not been sitting next to me, I would have given him the finger. So I opted for the next best gesture, and stuck my tongue out at him.

"Mature, Alice. _Great_ role model," he scoffed with a roll of his eyes.

"Just drive, Jeeves," I shot back, ignoring the muttering he was doing under his breath, and thankfully Rosalie decided to turn on the radio.

* * *

><p>I laid out the clothes I'd bought for Bella on the bed while C.J. looked around the room, standing still with his hands clasped in front of himself, and Rosalie sat down on the small sofa and opened the latest edition of <em>Vogue<em>, allowing Emmett a moment to himself in the restroom. I had a premonition of that very thing occuring, and thankfully had gotten air freshener while we were out.

"Where is Bella sleeping? There's only one bed," he pointed out, and my face flushed. _Well, Alice, it's now or never... _

Clearing my throat, I stood to face him, and he looked up at me with a knowing look in his eyes. _He's six... what can he possibly know? _"Well, C.J., I have something I want to tell you..." I saw Rosalie glance up at my words, but before I could look over for support, she shifted her gaze back down to the open magazine in her lap.

"Okay," he said simply, shrugging his little shoulders carelessly. "I already know what you're going to say to me, though."

"Then what am I about to say?" I asked him, and he grinned.

"Just tell me, Mommy."

I eyed him suspiciously. There was no way he could know, unless someone told him... I would kill Emmett. "Bella and I are... well, we're together." The smug satisfaction in his dark blue eyes told me that he did indeed know, and I cocked my head to one side inquisitively as I stared at him, watched his happy grin spread across his face.

"I know," he said, laughing. "Bella gave it away. She blushed the other day when we were in our lesson, and she said it was you texting her, and then you guys went out that night... and she was at Uncle Em and Aunt Rosie's house the next day."

"How does that constitute the fact that we're...?"

"_Because_," he emphasized as if he were the adult and I was the child, "I saw her head in your lap when I woke up, and you were smiling in your sleep." He crossed his arms over his chest, much like his Uncle Edward does, and smirked much in the same style as my younger brother. "I just went back up to take a shower and get dressed before you caught me." He blushed, his smirk faltering a bit. "I didn't want to surprise you."

"That was... very gentlemanly," I said, feeling a little light headed at the fact that my son had known all along. I sat down on the edge of the bed, and put my head in my hands. He certainly inherited my brains and logic, and the capability to put two and two together. It amazed me that he could call me out like that. My sister-in-law did not looked as shocked as I felt.

I felt his arm slip around my shoulder, and he patted my upper arm reassuringly. "Don't worry. It's gonna be okay. I like Bella. And I think she likes you just as much as you like her, so it's okay... Just... can you please work on spending more time with me? I miss you, Mommy."

I wiped away the tears that fell at his request and turned to him, pulling him into a tight hug. My little man, and he sure was that. I looked at Rosalie over his shoulder, and she gave me a wink and a smile, and I felt for the moment that everything would be all right.

* * *

><p><strong>BellaPOV:<strong>

I was just about to call Dad to tell him to please come pick me up from that godforsaken job when my cell chimed with a text from Alice.

_C.J. knows about us. I told him today. He already knew._

I couldn't help but grin. Of course my little buddy already knew about me and his mom. I hadn't exactly hidden it, and Alice hadn't, either... We just... didn't come out and say it.

_Is he okay with it? _I texted back, biting my lip as I sent it, and then called my father while I waited for Alice's reply.

"You off?" Dad asked when he answered his cell phone and I hummed an affirmative answer.

"I am, and I would appreciate it if you would hurry," I told him honestly, and he grunted.

"That little... it's that little bitch Jane, isn't it?"

"Dad..."

"I'm coming, Bells. Stay put."

I exited out of the call, and Alice's text appeared on my screen as soon as I cleared Dad's name, and I opened it to feel a big smile cross my face.

_He's completely okay with it. He might have even played matchmaker, if we hadn't beat him to it. He loves you, Bella._

_I think it's safe to say the feeling is mutual. _I laughed, shaking my head as I thought back to how this all started sitting in this very store, when Emmett came in after seeing the sign for my services. I owed him a big one. _I am about to be on my way to the hotel, btw._

"Bella?"

I cringed at the sound of Aro's voice behind me, and I slowly turned to meet my boss's watery eyes. "I just wanted to let you know that you have my support in this," he said, and my eyebrow shot up at his words. _Really, he is going to talk to me about this?_

"I know what Jane said to you," he said, confirming my fears, but he adverted his eyes for a moment before he looked back at me. "I assure you that she has nothing to do with this... idiot's plans concerning you and your friend. The connection between the two is strictly business to my understanding, and I have seen to it that she cut ties with him. You are safe in my store, Bella. Safe from him, and safe from my bratty niece." He closed his eyes and shook his head, pinching the bridge of his overly large nose. After a moment, he released his wrinkled face and looked at me again. "You can take time off, if you need it. Just let me know beforehand."

"Okay," I said in barely more than a whisper, and he studied me for a second longer before he took a few steps forward, closing some of the distance between us.

"I know that Jane's association with this James fellow has not cast myself or the Volturi name in the brightest of lights, but I implore you, don't leave my company... Since you've started here, my books are coming out balanced, and none of my merchandise is... being misplaced. I cannot say the same for when Jane was the sole manager." He gave me a pointed look, and I got what he was telling me: Jane was stealing from him before I came to secondhand the books with her.

"Aro, I have no plans to leave Volturi Music at this point. Nothing has happened here in regards to James, and though I am wary of Jane, she doesn't frighten me half as much as she wishes she does," I told him truthfully. "But I might have to take you up on the time off soon. I am to be moving out of my apartment sometime this week, and I am sure you will understand when I don't mention where I am going. My address in the store files will be changed to a post office box, and nothing more."

Aro inclined his ancient head. "I do understand. Thank you, Bella. Will I be seeing you in the morning?"

"Bright and early, I'm sure," I answered him, giving him a return smile as he turned and went back towards his office, closing its door quietly behind him.

I seriously doubted Aro's knowledge or involvement of the contraband that Jane seemed to have her little thieving hands in, and if she were indeed stealing from him before I became a co-manager, that was lower than low in my opinion. Aro Volturi was a perverted, dirty old man, but at least he made an honest living, as far as I could tell, and he seemed pretty apologetic about Jane's actions in handling her own consequences of opening her fat mouth. He was her blood! Well, her great-Uncle, her father's uncle, but I was sure that neither he nor her grandfather would appreciate her helping herself to his money.

_You're on your way? Damn I guess that means I need to put some clothes on, huh? :P_

I rolled my eyes at her teasing, knowing damn well that she was fully clothed. _Shame, _I texted back with a grin, _I was gonna strip down to my boxers and do stunts on the shower curtain rod. *sigh* guess I am all alone in my underwear sports today, huh? ;)_

_Pfft you're lucky, too! I'd hate to have to whip your ass in the Pantie Pole Vault again, _she texted back in a true smart ass way, making my chest swell with pride.

This particular smart ass happened to be my _girlfriend_.

* * *

><p>"I, uh... rented a room at that hotel you and Alice are staying in, and Sue is going to come stay with me for a few days here," Dad told me when I pulled myself up into the high cab of his truck.<p>

"Seriously? Why?" I asked him, confused. Dad hated Seattle almost as much as he hated shopping.

He shrugged, his face turning red and his mustache fluffing out a bit. "It's been a while since we've had any time together, you know, without Seth and Leah... and since I planned to be here until you're moved in at the Cullen place, I figured why the hell not?"

I nodded. "I guess you're right. But Leah is staying home, right?"

He gave me a look from the corner of his eye. "Yes, she is staying in Forks, that's the point."

I gave a single nod and laid my head against the window, closing my eyes and listening to the Creedence Clearwater Revival Dad was playing on his radio. My peace was shattered after a minute, when he reached over and turned the volume down, meaning he wanted to talk.

"What happened at work today?" he asked me, and I gave a heavy sigh, and opened my eyes to look over at him.

"Jane..." I trailed off, not knowing how to put this where he would not lose his shit and wreck his truck, killing both of us. "She just... you know... she knows James. I think she deals drugs to him, but I'm not positive. I am only assuming, considering the text from Emmett that I received earlier, telling me he had some things pertaining to some smack and coke that he wanted to talk to her about."

Dad nodded. "We did find out that she is a major figure in the drug trade, purely on the club scene. She isn't connected to the streets, but that's where our boy James comes in. He is her do-boy, her little scapegoat."

I snorted. She didn't pick a very smart scapegoat.

"Did she say anything to you?" Dad asked me, and I nodded.

"She told me that if I told anyone that she knows James, she'd make sure it was the last thing I'd do, or some over-used villain line like that."

"So, she has no idea that we've connected her to him?"

I shrugged. "She might, now." I went on to tell him about the argument I had heard between her and her uncle that day, and also told him what Aro had said to me before I had left, just minutes ago.

"Yeah, I think he might have played the game when he was younger, but I am pretty sure Aro Volturi is a clean slate in this... creepy fella, though, isn't he?"

I nodded in agreement. "The creepiest. But I think it's just because he is a widower and he hasn't gotten laid in a _really_ long time."

Dad scratched his head. "You'd think that with all that money, he'd _buy_ a piece," he speculated jokingly, and I snorted in laughter.

"Maybe we could fix him up with crazy Tabitha, you know, that old biddy that lives off of First Beach. The one with all the cats?" I said, and Dad shook with his hardly contained mirth.

"The one that calls the station to report a murder whenever one of her cats gets killed by one of the wolves?" he said, shaking his head. "Poor old lady... she doesn't know any better."

We laughed and joked about playing Cupid with Aro and various elderly ladies in Forks, and just being with my father made it feel like the imminent danger in my life didn't exist. I appreciated his efforts in keeping my mind off of James and what he might be up to.

"Welp, here we are," he said, pulling up to the front doors of the hotel. "You go on up, and I am going to go park my truck, and wait for Sue in the bar."

"Knocking back a few before we leave?" I asked, thinking that it wasn't such a bad idea. It would do wonders for my nerves if Alice would let me take a double shot before we left the hotel.

"No, just grabbing a draft for the start of the Mariners game, since we are leaving about the time it'll get to the third or fourth inning," he grumbled, but I knew he wasn't too upset about the game. My father hated to meet new people just as much as I did.

"Okay. Well, I'll see you at the restaurant, and maybe we'll have time for a nightcap afterwards. We can rehash the horrible performance our ball team is sure to give tonight."

"Okay, kid. See you afterwhile."

I got out of the truck, and had to restrain myself from breaking into a run when it hit me that _Alice_ was upstairs waiting on me, so I just kind of skipped to the elevator, pressing the number 11 and bouncing on my feet in anticipation of seeing that dimpled smile I had missed all day. I didn't pause in my speed-walking as I made my way down the hall, digging the card key out of my wallet as I went, and barely noticed the bottle of wine I kicked over in front of our door until I heard it thump heavily against the thick red carpet in the hall. Even looking down at the bottle now lying on its side, I opened the room door and called for Alice.

"Bella?" she answered, appearing from the bathroom with her hair only half-spiked away from her face; I must have interrupted her styling time.

I squatted down and was reaching for the bottle when she gasped and said quickly, "Don't touch it... Look at the tag."

Sure enough, when the bottle toppled over, the little gift note tied to the neck had fallen open to reveal a little note scribbled on it in sloppy handwriting.

_Cungradulayshuns too my grils- J._

* * *

><p>"But you didn't see anyone on your way up?" Emmett asked me for the thousandth time since he had shown up twenty minutes after I had.<p>

"Not a soul since I was in the lobby," I repeated, looking at my phone again. Where the hell was my father? I'd called, texted... I was beginning to worry.

Emmett stepped into the hallway and looked up at the ceiling, a small smile crossing his features as he spotted what he wanted to see: a surveillance camera. "Did you ever hear back from your dad?" he asked me as he stepped back into the room.

"No," I said softly, looking back down at my silent cell phone, then to Alice, who was sitting on our bed, looking at the bottle that James had apparently left for the both of us.

"How?" she asked in a hushed tone. "How did he know what _room?_"

"No telling... he probably had someone come to the desk and ask about it, or overheard something... we'll find out, that's for sure..." Emmett's voice trailed off as his attention was drawn to something in the hall. "Hey, Charlie, I was starting to wonder about you," he said to the unseen person, and my heart jumped that _finally_ Dad was showing up.

"Bella!" Dad said, shoving past Emmett and pulling me up from beside Alice, wrapping me in his arms. "I'm sorry, I was- er- well, I got here as soon as I checked my phone." From the red hint to his cheeks, I didn't think I wanted to know what he'd been doing.

"And who might this beautiful young lady be?" Emmett said from the door, and I looked over Dad's shoulder to see my step-mother standing in the doorway, and Emmett shaking her hand politely. "Emmett Cullen, miss," he introduced himself to Sue, and she looked at my father, a grin on her face, before she looked back at Em.

"Well, kind sir, my name is Sue Swan, and I quite belong to that handsome devil over there, with his arm around that beautiful little girl of ours," she answered, dipping her head in acknowledgement of Emmett's impeccable manners.

I felt a wave of affection for the tall, tan skinned woman, who was the only mother I had grown up knowing. She was my caregiver when Renee left, years before she and my father were anything like they are now. She was still married to Harry, one of my father's best friends, and Leah and Seth's father, at the time, and remained so until his death when Leah and I were twelve. He passed away with a massive heart attack, and Dad was the one that helped keep Sue together for her kids, because his death shook her otherwise sturdy spirit.

"Bella, this is your mom?" he asked me, and I smiled.

"The only one I've ever known," I answered in a chipper tone, holding an arm out to Sue for a hug, which she immediately accepted.

"Bella, honey..." Sue kissed the top of my head, and I couldn't help but to feel like a kid again, between my parents such as I was. "You look like you're losing weight. Have you been eating?"

"Yes, Sue, I swear," I laughed. "But Seattle has no food that compares to the tango that my tastebuds do when I eat your fish fry," I added, and she laughed, kissing my cheek hard before looking at my father.

"See? This is why I love your daughter more than mine," she joked, and I bit back a snort of laughter.

I pulled away from both of them to properly introduce them to Alice, who was still sitting on the bed, albeit a little more shyly than mere seconds before. "Dad, Sue, I want you to meet my girlfriend, Alice Cullen. Alice, this is my dad, Chief Swan, and my lovely step-mother, Sue."

Alice gave a small, shy smile as she extended her tiny hand to my father first, who shook it with a twinkle in his eye but a frown set in his face. He surveyed my Alice from her face, down to her heeled feet, and back, pursing his lips. "So, you're the one she can't stop thinking about," he said gruffly, and Alice and I both went beet red simultaneously.

"I suppose so, sir," she said in a tiny voice, not at all like her normal energetic tone.

"Dad..." I started to protest, but he held up a hand, and I went quiet, knowing it was better to let him speak than to make it worse on her. I didn't mention to Alice that my dad had never met anyone I was ever involved with, other than Leah, which to this day he and Sue both were clueless about; so I had no idea really how he planned to handle this.

"Hold on, Bella, I am talking to... Alice, right?"

"Charlie..." Sue chimed in her own warning, and Dad gave her a glance, but continued.

"What exactly are your plans with my little girl?"

I was mortified. I ducked my face down into my chest and let my hair swing out to cover the blush of embarrassment that was slowly coloring my pale skin. How could he do this to me?

"Well," Alice said slowly, swallowing audibly, "I hope we'll date for some months, maybe years. I hope that we'll buy a house together when she's ready, and that we'll be the kind of parents that I hear you are, and that my parents are. I plan on wearing a ring, eventually, if she likes, and then I plan on having a double burial plot reserved for when we die, because I can't imagine eternal rest without her next to me."

No one said anything for a long five seconds after she finished telling my father that she planned to keep me as long as I would have her.

"Damn," Dad said, looking at me. "She's got it all figured out. I like her."

I let go of a breath that I didn't realize I had been holding, and the tension in the room melted until Emmett brought Dad's attention to the wine bottle a few minutes later, and while Dad and Sue were distracted with that, I checked on my tiny girlfriend, who had collapsed back onto the bed with a sigh. I eased myself down onto the edge of the mattress beside her.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry, I didn't know he was going to do that," I said softly, taking her hand between mine and gently squeezing.

"It's okay, I am fine. Just... I didn't want you to hear all of that... not yet, anyway," she whispered back, and I felt my brow knit together in confusion.

"Why not?" I asked her, and she gave a dry chuckle.

"It's not normal to have a life planned with someone that you've known less than a month, Bella," she told me, but I shrugged, shaking my head.

"Alice, there is nothing about this relationship that is normal," I pointed out, and she gave me a tiny grin.

"That's true," she admitted. "But I feel like it should be... I feel like I should show you how it's supposed to work between two people, not just sign you up for matrimony."

I laughed at that, and got a few stares from the three people standing to our left, but I didn't acknowledge them, because I was lost in deep pools of navy blue. "I want to kiss you so badly right now," I found myself whispering to her, and she gave me a smile that caved both of her dimples.

"Do it," she whispered back challengingly. "I _dare_ you."

I swiftly leant in and pressed my lips against hers, and made to pull away, but she wasn't allowing that. She followed me until she had kissed me for a full ten seconds, thankfully without tongues, and she didn't pull back until a light clearing of Sue's throat sounded. We jerked apart and I didn't look up, blushing hard, and refusing to meet anyone's gaze, not wanting guilt to ruin the euphoria instilled in my heart whenever Alice kissed me.

"Hey, Charlie? You think you could escort Bella and my dear little sister to the restaurant in an hour or so? I need to drop this off at the station, make a few bad jokes about his first-grade spelling level, and then shoot to my place to change," Emmett said, and my father nodded immediately.

"Sure, boy, go make yourself pretty. After dinner tonight, I want you to go home and get some sleep, though. You've done all you can do today," Dad said, clapping a hand on Em's shoulder, and Emmett nodded.

"I don't think I could survive another night without it," he admitted sheepishly. "I kind of passed out on the sofa today."

"Kind of?" his sister repeated, deadpan, rolling her beautiful eyes. "You sat down and _died_, Emmett."

"All the same," Dad said, nodding in approval of his assessment of Emmett and his bad habit. "Go on, get out of here, we'll see you tonight."

Emmett waved goodbye and left, taking the wine with him, and Dad looked at Alice and I. "You girls going to be okay? We're just a floor down, if you need me."

"We'll be fine. We still have to get ready for dinner," I said, and Alice nodded eagerly in her agreement. That reminded me...

"Okay, we'll meet you two up here, and the four of us will go down together," Dad said, looking between Alice and I for any objections to his plan.

We looked at each other and shrugged, nodding in agreement. "Sounds good to me," I told him, and he gave a small wave with his hand, and Sue leaned in for a one-armed hug, pressing her lips to my forehead.

"Be good, see you in a little while," she told me, and I smiled.

The door had barely shut behind them before I found myself staggering backwards onto the bed with a very eager mouth against mine, and a very happy pixie in my arms. I landed on my elbows, and allowed her to straddle my lap, and though her weight was not touching my thighs, her mere presence above me was enough to send my heart into cardiac arrest. I reached up with my left hand and cupped the back of her neck as she playfully nudged my tongue with hers, trying to hold her toying affection still so I could reciprocate her actions; but Alice was in complete control of this lengthy display.

"Alice," I mumbled unwillingly against her advances a few minutes later. She ignored me, and I reached between us and slipped my hand beneath the hem of her collared yellow shirt, smiling when she let go of a sharp gasp. I pushed against her abdomen, and she sat up on her knees, still straddled across me, her gorgeous mouth plump and wet, and I fought the urge to bite her bottom lip and keep going. "We have to get ready," I said instead, swallowing hard at the words that were coming from my mouth. I really wanted to stay here, staring up at her eyes that were brimming with unsaid emotion, and feeling her hands that clutched at my shirt as though I might evaporate in her grasp.

I was caught in that moment, listening to and feeling our hearts dueling against each other to see which could reach a higher B.P.M., and Alice broke eye contact first, sighing deeply and leaning her forehead to mine. "Fine," she grumbled. "I'm only relenting because I know how sexy you're going to be in the clothes I bought for you today."

"Will I like them?" I asked skeptically, watching as her eyes began to dance in good humor.

She got to her feet and held out a hand to help pull me to mine, then she twirled around in a blur of excitement to go to the clothes rack mounted between the bathroom and the sitting area. "We're matching, but I picked the color to go with your dark hair and eyes, but it looks good on me, so it works perfectly."

"You color-coordinated us?" I deadpanned, and she gave me a _slightly_ apologetic look, biting her lip hopefully that I wouldn't chastise her too much for her fashion sense.

"I promise, it's going to be hot," she said, and I shook my head at her, my shoulders quaking with silent laughter for how adorable my girl was.

"Well, go on, then. Show me what we're going to look like tonight."

* * *

><p>"You should have worn the tie," Alice muttered to me sullenly from the driver's seat of her car, and I looked over at her with a wary look, afraid she was going to start this argument again.<p>

"It looks fine without it," I replied softly, and she huffed.

"It looks more than fine, but that's not the point. The tie set it off."

"I look retarded in ties."

"It looked good- are we really doing this again?" She giggled at the end of her question, shaking her head, and I joined her on the laugh.

It seemed fashion was something upon which we did not agree. The crimson silk dress shirt was fine, as were the nice black slacks and the glossy shoes, but asking me to wear a black neck tie with it? Too much, I looked just fine in the shirt and slacks.

But Alice? _Alice? _She looked amazing. She had gotten a little black dress to match the color of my shirt, one that only came down to mid-thigh, and was very form fitting, from the not-too revealing neck line to the hem that rode just a smidgen when she sat and crossed her legs, like she had in the room earlier to apply her eyeliner. She had the nicest legs I'd ever seen, beautifully sculpted from her years as a dancer, and they ended in tiny, petite feet onto which she had strapped the sexiest pair of red high heels known to mankind. Not stripper sexy, in that trashy, tasteless-but-dirty kind of way, but a sleek, classy pair that made something I didn't know existed in me poke its nose up and sniff. I discovered that night that I loved Alice in heels, especially the ones with heels long enough to push her to eye level with me, such as this pair she was wearing tonight. And when she asked how I thought she looked, and I leant to kiss her neck so as not to have her lip color on mine, I also discovered that I _loved_ the scent of _Pure Poison_ by Dior, and Alice seemed... pleased... that I enjoyed it so much.

It was with even greater reluctance we left the room, and I ended up with her lip color on mine, anyway.

I gave a deep sigh when we pulled up to the restaurant and Alice parked her car, waiting on my father and Sue to park beside her and get out before we unlocked our doors; it was my dad's idea. Alice reached over and slid her fingers through mine. "It's going to be fine, I promise. I really doubt they will give you the third degree... Emmett is usually the one that does that, and he really likes you. You can relax, Bells."

I smiled, loving that she called me by my nick name, same as the people closest to me. "Just don't let me drown in here, please?" I requested, and she gave me a tender look, reaching up and tucking some hair from my face, leaning and pressing her lips to mine softly.

"Never," she promised, and I nodded, jumping when a sharp knock sounded on my window.

We both looked up to see Dad standing there, tapping his wrist to indicate the time, and I rolled my eyes at him as Alice began to gather her things and stuff them into the little red purse she was carrying. "He did that on purpose," I muttered, and Alice giggled.

"With good reason, I'm sure," she replied.

I opened to the door and stood up next to Dad, and he shook his head at me, but didn't say anything.

"What?" I griped to him, but he held up his hands.

"Nothing, nothing," he insisted, but he couldn't hide the grin in his eyes. He was messing with my head, and he was doing it on purpose.

"Whatever, come on, let's do this, old man." I giggled at the look he gave me, as I turned to Alice and offered her my arm, much like Dad did for Sue.

She smiled at me as she did a half-curtsy before taking the proffered arm, squeezing my elbow affectionately, and leaning into my ear. "Your father really _did_ raise a gentleman," she whispered, letting her lips ghost over the cup of my ear teasingly, making me shudder with the sensation.

"I told you so," I whispered back, and as we drew even with the doors, my father broke free of Sue long enough to open the door for the three of us.

We were immediately ushered to a large table set up in a private dining room that was set for ten, and I saw that three people already had beat us to the table, and two of the three rose as we approached, one of which I recognized as Jimmy Neutron- er, I mean, Edward. His hair was still very much defying all gravity, and he was just as safe from the roof falling in as the first time I'd seen him.

Then there was the tall, thin man with the silvery hair slicked back, and I thought maybe it was to cover a bald patch like Aro's, but as we drew closer and he extended a hand to me, I saw that it was just as full as Edward's. I shook his hand as he introduced himself in a soft and polite voice. "Bella Swan, a pleasure to finally place a face to the name I have heard so often in the past month. I am Carlisle Cullen, Alice's father, and this is my wife Esme, her mother."

I turned to the kind-faced woman to his left, and felt the blood rush to my face when I realized I was looking at my Alice in twenty-odd years. Alice favored her mother greatly, but she was right that she had her father's navy blue eyes, as her mother's shone a emerald green that Edward had indeed taken from her. "Hello, dear," she said, rising to her feet to envelope me in a hug, which I awkwardly returned, not used to being hugged by people I have only just been introduced to. "C.J. has told us so much about you. I would say the same for Alice, only I think she was a little shy to admit-"

"Mom!" Alice cut in, her face as red as my shirt, and her little hand clamped down on my elbow, where it was still attached to my arm. I smiled at my beautiful girl to reassure her that I wasn't offended that she hadn't said much to her parents about me.

"It's nice to meet you, both," I said as Alice tried to relax beside me, and then her father pulled out two chairs on Edward's side of the table, and then he and Dad began introductions before Dad pulled out the chair on Esme's other side for Sue.

I somehow ended up between Alice and her younger brother, who was absorbed in his iPhone, which seemed to vibrate in his hand twice every thirty seconds. "Hello, Eddie," his sister said pointedly, leaning across me to slap at his phone, but he tugged it away just in time.

"Stop it, I'm trying to- Oh, God, he is going to be the death of me!" Edward started to get onto his older sibling for her interruption of his text message conversation, but another text came through before he could finish, and it seemed to upset him so much that I swore I saw his hair move in the wind as he shot to his feet. "I'm very sorry, please excuse me for a few minutes," he said distractedly to all of us before he rushed away towards the front doors.

As Edward exited the dinig room, Emmett, Rosalie, and C.J. appeared, Emmett looking over his shoulder with a curious expression. Dad, Dr. Cullen, and I rose as Rosalie came to the table and Emmett seated her between himself and Edward's vacant seat, and C.J. took the last seat next to his mother. Alice leaned down and placed a kiss on top of his head, and I reached over and gave his shoulder a tiny shove before I held my fist out and he bumped it, like I'd shown him in his second lesson. He grinned at both of us, his eyes spotting our interlocked fingers as I sat myself back down.

"How's it going, little man?" I asked him, and he laughed.

"Okay," he answered, eyeing his mother's hand as her thumb started to stroke the back of my hand. "How are you?" he returned politely, though I knew what he was asking.

"Better than I've ever been," I told him honestly, and he grinned before his grandma swooped in to cover him in kisses.

"Chief, Mrs. Swan, I'd like you to meet my son, C.J.," Alice said as her doting mother backed away to resume her position next to her husband. "C.J., this is the Chief and his wife, Bella's parents."

"Hi," C.J. said brightly, not as shy as when he first met me. I was surprised at first, then it hit me that we were in his environment, with his family, and in their establishment. C.J. was completely in his element. "It's nice to meet you."

"Thank you, it's nice to meet you, too," Sue said with a wide smile, and I knew right away that she was smitten with the little guy just as much I was. The kid was cute, and he had a way about him that just drew people to him.

_His inner rock star bleeding through_, I found myself thinking, and I allowed myself a chuckle at the thought.

"So, where was Eddie's fire? I asked him when he passed us, and he gave me a hand gesture that I'm not sure I appreciated," Emmett said to his father, who shrugged wordlessly before turning to my dad and striking up conversation.

"He flipped Uncle Em off," C.J. elaborated helpfully, and half the table choked on laughter while the other half tried to appear stern.

"Don't say that, it's inapproriate," his mother told him firmly, but when she looked back at me, she had a tiny grin etched in her features.

"I've got a couple guys getting your hotel room cleared out," Emmett told me and his sister, who looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Well, where are we supposed to stay? And have you had anyone check out my house since you forced me out of it?" Alice asked him, and he nodded, sipping his water.

"You're both staying with me and Rose until we start moving Bella's stuff in the next couple days. I have a moving team lined up for Wednesday. And yes, we have been watching your house. Nothing seems amiss, but Freeman found a few cigarette butts outside the dining room window, and as none of us smoke, I had her send them to the lab for DNA testing. If it comes back as a match to Chatham's DNA profile, then we have solid proof he was at least trespassing on private property with criminal intent, if not canvassing for a crime."

"The case is air tight as it is," Dad said, breaking into the conversation. Dr. Cullen also turned his full attention to it, though I saw his eyes flicker to his grandson, who was listening raptly, his navy eyes darting between the adults speaking. "We have visual evidence of him drugging Bella, and we have his handwriting, and if we can get that Volturi girl to talk, we'll have him, case closed. That girl knows more than what she's saying about where he is."

"What's going on?" C.J. finally had had enough of the talk, and wanted to know the story.

"Don't worry about it, honey," Alice said, reaching over to play with his hair. "We've got it under control."

C.J.'s face fell into a scowl and he sat back hard in his seat, his arms locking stubbornly across his chest. "Whatever," he mumbled with an attitude that made Alice's mouth fall open.

"Christopher!" she whisper-yelled at him. "You better lose that tone before you find that you've lost your guitar when we get back to your aunt and uncle's house."

Even I had to wince at that. It was one of Dad's favorite restrictions for me when I got to be too much growing up. But I had to give it to her, it was a threat that was effective, because his eyes teared up and he deflated, but he did not speak to her for another twenty minutes, and even then it was only to ask her to pass the salt once his food had arrived.

Dinner conversation did not last long about James, and when the food was on the table, no one said much of anything because everything was too amazing to pause long enough to chit-chat. Edward showed back up at some point between ordering and waiting for its arrival, with murmured apologies for his absence. Sue looked at Esme at one point and asked if she had written the recipe for the seasoning in which her filet mignon was doused.

"Everything on this menu has my handiwork, I promise. It's not called _Esme's_ just because I own it," Alice's mother joked, and Alice rolled her eyes at how lame the line came across.

After dinner, however, is when it took a turn for the worst, and I blame it all on Emmett.

"Mom," he said suddenly, "tell Bella about Alice's first dance recital."

Alice stiffened in the seat next to me, and her face went deathly pale, and I gave her a questioning look before I looked at her mother, who was chuckling to herself. "So, we really are going to tell embarrassing childhood stories?" she teased Alice, who shook her head, giving her mother a pleading look, which was completely ignored. "It was a ballet demonstration, Alice was... four? Five? Well, anyway, she was a beginner level student, and she was sooo excited to have her own little slippers and her little tutu-"

"Mother!" Alice hissed, her face going red, and I chuckled, placing a hand on her thigh, squeezing a bit to give her support through this memory.

"Well, she wanted to wear her favorite pair of panties for good luck, and they happened to be a really frilly pair of Hello Kitty underwear, and she wore her tights over them, but they were strained against so much... frill."

Oh, this was going to be good.

"Half way through the first song, Alice was supposed to jump and throw her legs out in different directions, but the tights ripped with the jump, and Alice fell on her face, with little rear up in the air, and Hello Kitty's face was looking at everyone in the crowd."

Alice looked like she wanted to melt into the floor, and I couldn't help but laugh, and she shot me a dirty look. "I'll have you know I cried for a week, and refused to go to rehearsals for almost a month," she told me, and I felt kind of bad for laughing.

"Aw, poor baby," I said, and she elbowed me in the ribs.

"I've got one on Bella," Sue piped up, and my eyes shot to the other side of the table to give her a death glare that went just as ignored as Alice's had to her mother. "Bella and my daughter Leah are the same age, and went to school together all through the years, and when they were in second grade, the class took a field trip out to farm to show the kids how things were done. Bella and Leah were always getting into something, so I volunteered to chaperone the trip just to keeps the girls in line, and thank God I was there that day, because Bella caused an uproar all across the farm."

Alice was looking at me curiously, and I shook my head. "Wait for it," I told her quietly as Sue went on.

"She got away from the group, and it was Leah that called my attention to it, asking me where Bella went. I started to tell the teacher in charge that we'd lost a kid, and then all you hear is the emu fifty yards back go nuts. We all ran back to the holding pen, and there's Bella, standing in the paddock with a stick, trying to run the birds out of the fence, covered in black and white feathers, tears running down her face." Everyone burst into laughter at the image I am sure it invoked in their minds.

"I didn't like seeing them in captivity. I thought I was doing a good deed, setting them free," I explained, my face red and hidden behind the curtain of my long dark hair.

"I had a heart attack, thinking about what your father would do if you were killed in a stampede of panicking overgrown chickens," Sue laughed, and I looked up at her to shake my head.

"It took them hours to round up all those birds," my father added for my benefit, and I sighed heavily.

"Well, I still say free the animals, and what not, you know me... PETA all the way," I said sarcastically, and Alice gave a sardonic chuckle from beside me.

"Wow, look at the time," Edward said suddenly, flashing his cell phone face around. "It's nearly ten-thirty, I should be going. It was a pleasure to meet you all, and Bella, glad to see you are doing well, even though it's clear I didn't have a shot at all that night."

I laughed and shook the hand he extended to me. "Nope, not one bit," I answered cheerfully. "But thank you again for saving me from an ugly fate, all the same."

He grinned, and I could see how someone could find him... okay looking. His hair was ridiculous, but when his smile was genuine, it was a nice smile. "You guys stay safe, and have a good night," he said to us all, and took his leave through the door.

C.J. gave a big yawn after his uncle had disappeared, and Alice didn't miss it. "Sleepy, sweetheart?" she asked him, and he was so groggy that he forgot to be mad at her, laying his head on her upper arm and nodding his little head. Alice looked over at me, asking silently if I were ready to go, and I nodded, looking back at the parents.

"I guess we're gonna follow Edward's lead and go on ahead," I told Dad and Sue, who both nodded, smiling at C.J.

"I'll come with you," Rosalie said, among the only things she had said at all that night. "Emmett is stopping by the precinct before he heads to the house, and I don't want to wait in his office for an hour while he does whatever it is he does."

"I'll have Carter and Freeman sit outside until I get home, babe," he said with an agreeing tone, leaning to kiss his wife before she stood with Alice, C.J., and me.

The Cullens rose to their feet to bid us good bye. "Bella, I am very glad we have now properly met," Dr. Cullen said to me, shaking my hand once more.

"Me, too, Dr. Cullen," I replied, and he waved a hand.

"Call me Carlisle, I will become your landlord in two days, after all," he laughed, and I chuckled.

"And your father-in-law in a year, the rate that you two are going," Emmett cracked, and Alice, Rosalie, and I all gave him the same glare at once, making him wince and be quiet.

"Call us if you need anything," Alice's mother told her, and Alice nodded, reciprocating the kiss that Mrs. Cullen laid lightly on my girlfriend's cheek. "Bella, sweetheart, I'll see you on Wednesday. It was lovely spending time with you tonight."

"Thank you," I said graciously, and I felt Alice's fingers thread through mine as C.J. kissed his grandparents good night and waved to my parents.

The only thought in my head as we four rode to Rosalie and Emmett's was where I was going to sleep, because I was exhausted.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I am so sorry it took over a month to update, but to be honest, things are so nuts in RL that I didn't even notice it had been that long until the other day.**

**11,654 words... kinda like giving you guys two chapters in one. I hope a chapter this long doesn't bother anyone.**

**Well, what did you think? It's not my favorite, but the story is moving along...**

**We'll have a time jump soon, because all this detail is giving me a headache lol**

**OH and for those few of you that read my Alice/OC fic, I am working on chapter 2 of the sequel... just thought I would throw that out there so you can keep your eyes open. I have decided that Hide and Seek will cease to be merely a one shot and will carry on into the sequel... read When You Think You Know Her first to be able to follow...**

**Have I run my mouth enough, yet? **

**Thank you guys, and I love you all.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: It's Meyers. Not Rainwater's.**

**Thank you guys for your reviews on that last chapter, and for not hating the epic size of that chapter lol**

**This one is not even half as large, but I hope you enjoy it, nonetheless.**

**BellaPOV:**

Three weeks. Three weeks have passed since James left that bottle of wine in front of that hotel room door. In those three weeks, several things have happened:

One, I moved into the little apartment above the Cullens' garage, and I have to say it was five times nicer than the hole I had been renting in Seattle, and they were only allowing me to pay four hundred a month for it. It easily fit into my budget, and all of a sudden, I had money to make long-overdue repairs to my truck, which had began to wheeze like an old man who had seen his fair share of tobacco in life.

Two, Dad had made me promise to come up to Forks for Labor Day weekend, and I was under orders to have Alice and C.J. come with me. This was a scary predicament not only because Alice would be seeing where I come from, but because she would be meeting Leah, and Jacob. I was not excited about either prospect, considering the jealous and temperamental nature of the two, but I figured it was something that all Quileute people share; just let a woman look at my father the wrong way, and Sue turns into a whole new being.

Three, Alice and I have not spent a single night together since I moved onto her parents' property. Esme decided that she would help us slow down our relationship by forbidding Alice to even walk past the threshold of the front door to the place I rented, saying that in time the ban would surely be lifted, but in the mean time she meant what she said, and Alice didn't want to know the consequence of her mother's admonition. We behaved, and merely went out for dates, if that's what you can call them, by walking within the walls of the estate, holding hands as we talked about everything from the Dalai Lama to Lady Gaga, whom she adored. It was too risky for the two of us to be alone in society, and Em was especially freaking out because it had been so long since we'd had a sign of James, so the no outside dates rule had been established not long after my move here.

Four, Jane had quit Volturi Music after a major falling out with Aro, who had been sick recently, and had handed all the responsibilities of running the damn thing to me. Emmett's partner Garrett Liberty, a laid back cop with a blonde hair and a mischievious grin, and I had developed a friendship, as he had spent so much of his time with me at my job in the past few weeks, and I was now tutoring him in guitar, as well. He was trying to learn to impress some girl he had met in his kick-boxing classes. For me, it was more money in my bank account, and I had no complaints.

Five, Alice had received an official letter from an attorney affiliated with the United States Army in Fort Hood, Texas, concerning a meeting with them in a week, on C.J.'s behalf as his sole caretaker. Alice had been very quiet with me on this subject, as we both knew it had something to do with Jasper, but she couldn't say anything to her son... he was about to start school the same week that Alice would have to fly to Texas for the meeting, and his head was full of not being able to sit around and play guitar all day, every day. Alice had set a limit on it to an hour and half before bed time every night, as long as his homework was completed and checked over. When he appealed to me about it, looking for support, he was very disappointed that I told him his mother was right, that school was more important than guitar.

Alice had giggled at the face I had made when he walked away to his room at his grandparents, knowing that it killed a small part of me to say _anything _was more important than guitars.

Now that I've hashed out the events that have taken place over the last few weeks, onwards...

I was tapping my pen to the rhythm of Tool's "Parabola" as it played on the speakers at work, doing Aro's job now that my own was through. I had to make a bank drop, and I had to do it before five, but I was procrastinating as long as possible; the banker at the private bank Aro did business with had developed a teensy crush on me, and flirted relentlessly every time I came in. I couldn't handle any toothy smiles from preppy guys today. I was too wrapped up in my own thoughts to politely defer to him, and it was making cranky because I was getting a headache from the constant hum inside my head. I was sure my boss would not be happy with me if I took out unnecessary aggression on his banker.

Garrett was sitting in a folding chair across the room with his feet up on a filing cabinet, tossing peanuts into his mouth as he waited for me to finish the numbers so we could leave for the bank. It was sad that he had learned the drill over the last week since Aro had not been able to come in. Emmett was asking me questions about it, and it made me uneasy, because though he tried to make it sound breezy, I felt like there was purpose behind his curiosity.

"Jeez, aren't you done, yet?" I looked up to see Garrett had switched around and put his feet on the floor, leaning forward with a frown as he looked at his cell phone. "It's nearly four-thirty, Bella. You're usually done and out the door by four."

I shrugged and looked back down at the paper in front of me. It was done, but as I had no desire to do this today, I was in no hurry to go... it was only a ten minute car ride from the store, I saw it as plenty of time to make the drop and go. "I guess I'm ready, if you are," I muttered, clicking the pen closed and lying it down on the desk.

"Finally," he sighed, and I rolled my eyes at him, knowing he was being over dramatic on purpose just to poke fun at me; he knew I had a lot on my mind, though he didn't exactly know _what. _

"Shut up," I said, picking up the bag of cash and credit reports, along with the carbon copies of the reports I had just filled out. "Let's just get this over with so I can break Romeo's heart again today."

"Poor guy," Garrett said playfully, nudging me in the side as I drew level with him at the door. "Hasn't a snowball's chance in hell, but has heart enough to keep trying. Bless him."

I chose to ignore that comment as I turned out the lights in Aro's office and shut the door behind us as we exited into the store. Heidi was messing around on a drum set as we neared the front doors, and I pointed at her, silently telling her that she was in charge until I returned, and she nodded with understanding as I left. We took Garrett's unmarked Crown Victoria, riding through the few streets between the store and the bank, and I was subjected to the country music that Garrett seemed to be in the mood for that day. I looked at my phone, noting that I hadn't received a text from Alice in hours, and my brow furrowed a little; that was a little abnormal. We were horrible about texting constantly, no matter what we were doing. I could be knee deep in customers, and Alice in the middle of a corporate business meeting, and we would be zoned out on our phones, giggling about whatever the other was saying. Edward was highly annoyed by it, being Alice's partner as well as her brother, as her distraction with me left him to do most of the hard work by himself while his sister merely supervised.

I sent her a quick text, just saying that I was trying to be home by seven, but I wasn't sure if I'd make dinner. Esme fed me as well as everyone else in the house, every night at six-thirty sharp when Carlisle came home from his regular shift at the hospital. I hadn't been able to be home before eleven for the past two nights, so I had promised her I would do my best to make it home before it got dark, so that we could walk after dinner.

I let loose a breath that I had been holding since I got out of the car when I entered the bank and saw that Romeo was no where in sight. I did the deposit with a small gray-haired lady instead, and got out of there fairly quickly, much to my pleasure. Garrett was surprised to see me exit the building not ten minutes after entering it, because he was so used to waiting in the parking lot for twenty to thirty minutes every day while Romeo spat his crap at me.

"I take it he wasn't there?" he said, putting the Vic in reverse to go back to the store.

"Mmm," I said, not really answering him, not giving him room to make any more fun of me than he already did.

He chuckled. "Yeah, didn't think so," he said in a smug tone, and I merely raised the middle finger of my left hand to him as I stared out of the window and waited for Alice to text me back.

It wasn't Alice's name that appeared on the screen of my phone an hour later, however, it was one that I had only acquired recently. It was Rosalie calling me.

I put the phone to my ear as I stepped to the storeroom for some quiet, and no sooner did I greet her, did she get right into why she is calling me.

"Bella, I think you should come home," she said in a tone that made my blood run cold.

"What? What happened, is it- is it Alice? Is she okay?" I said, panicked, beginning to freak out.

"She's fine, physically, it's just... God, Bella, it's horrible news. She found out what the meeting in Texas is really about."

I stopped in my dash for the door, falling completely still, my hair raising on end for some reason. "And? What is it?" I asked her, hearing her take a shuddering breath on the other line.

"It's about what Jasper left to C.J. in his will," Rosalie told me, and I lost my breath... that could only mean one thing. "Bella, Jasper's dead."

* * *

><p>I found Alice in her room at her parents' house, sitting on the stool in front of her vanity, staring at her reflection in the silver-backed mirror mounted to the antique piece. I stopped in the doorway as she looked back at me, and I saw the red rings around her eyes, and the puffy cheeks swollen beneath them, tears still glistening in her dark blue eyes.<p>

"Baby," I whispered painfully, my heart clenching with the sight of her looking so heartbroken, so lost.

She tried to force a smile on her face at my endearment, but failed miserably as she broke out into a sob instead. "Bells, he is gone, he's really gone, not coming back... my son is never going to know his father," she cried, burying her face in her hands, leaning onto her elbows while her shoulders shook with grief.

I quickly entered her bedroom and shut the door behind me, striding across the room to pull her into my arms, hugging her close as she cried, my heart breaking with hers. My father had been everything to me growing up, and I couldn't imagine what it would be like to not have Dad in my life, just as much as I couldn't imagine Renee coming back into it. I suppose C.J. had the same situation, only the other way around from mine. I knew how it felt, not having two people in your house when you came home from school.

"Shh, it's okay, Alice," I whispered, running the fingers of my right hand through her hair as I held her close with the left.

"I am by myself with this, how do I explain to him... he has always been so sure that Jasper would want to meet him, eventually," she said in a hoarse tone a few minutes later, her face against my shoulder.

"You're not by yourself," I disagreed, shaking my head. I put a finger beneath her chin and raised her tear-stained face up to look her in the eyes. "I'm not his father, I could never take that place, but I am here for him, and for you. I'm not going anywhere any time soon, Alice. I swear, I am here to stay." I stopped short of what I was going to add onto that, my eyes widening at the realization of what I had wanted to say to her. _I love you._

"Bella..." Alice's whisper died off as she read in my expression exactly what I did not say to her in words, and I saw her eyes light up with a blazing look I had seen only once before.

"Oh, god, not again," I breathed as I realized what Alice was going to do about half a second before it actually happened. She stood up fast, pressing against me hard as she rose up onto her toes to kiss me like I had not felt from her before. There was a certainty to this kiss, a purpose in its ferocity, and it was hitting home in my soul, stoking a bon fire that quickly consuming every coherent, intelligent thought I possessed. She made a small jump up, and I reflexively caught her by the back of her thighs as she wrapped her legs around my waist, squeezing tightly in her intensity. I felt her hands pull at the bottom of my shirt, and I knew then and there that she intended to go all the way this time, whether I stopped her or not.

So I gave in. I let her pull my shirt over my head, and even moved my face aside when she attacked my neck, unable to stop the whimpering pants she was making me have, feeling my knees becoming weak with the invasion of arousal ravaging my body now, and the added weight of my darling pixie in my arms, sucking on my neck so well.

The back of my knees thankfully connected to the edge of the canopy bed the sat against the opposite wall in her room, and I sat down hard, Alice pulling away to rip her own shirt over her head and fling it behind her before coming back with an insistent kiss.

This was not how I pictured our first time. Our first time was not meant to be rushed, with the both of us shredding clothes from each other, not slowing down enough to appreciate what we were discovering about each other's bodies, exploring and experimenting with soft touches and kisses. It wasn't meant to be an outlet, goddamn it, I wouldn't let it be.

"Alice," I said as her mouth did fantastic things around the edge of my collar bone, working her way down. Her name came out in a breathy whisper, and could have been misconstrued as encouragement, rather than me trying to get her attention. I willed my hands to move from her hair to the sides of her face, pulling her head back from me gently to look at her while our chests heaved against each other.

Her eyes were pleading with me, her bottom lip trembled, knowing I was about to turn her down for the second time. "Bella, please," she said in a strangled whisper, her hands tightening around my belt buckle, where they had been fumbling moments before. "You don't know how much I need you right now."

"Not like this, Alice, please... I want it to be just me and you, no elephants in the room, no hurries, just us and our experience," I whispered back, watching as tears welled up in her bloodshot eyes, and she let out a soft sob, her hands moving from my belt up to the straps of my bra, gripping them but not trying to slip them off. I knew she just needed to hang on to me, and I was completely okay with that.

"Why are you so fucking _perfect_?" she wailed, letting her head fall into my neck as she broke down again, and I just held her, rocking her back and forth, trying my best to be there, but not knowing what the fuck to do. I sat there for the next hour in that same position, long after her outburst of tears had died down, and no one bothered us at all, leaving us in utter silence... until my stomach rumbled.

Alice shifted in my lap and let go of my bra straps to sit back and look at me. "I'm sorry, I did it again," she said guiltily, her cheeks tinting pink beneath the tear-stains. Then her gaze left my eyes and traveled down my body from my neck to my waist line and back to my eyes as she bit her lip. "I can't lie and say that I don't appreciate the view, however." The smile she gave me was a ghost of the ones of which I she was capable, but it was a start, and I would take it.

I let my eyes fall down her body as well, taking in the elegant slope of her neck to her shoulders, then down to the valley created my the swell of her beautiful breasts, pushed up by the very expensive looking black lace bra she was wearing. I swallowed hard at the slightly darker shade of pink in the middle of the cups, knowing that lace was giving me glimpse of what lie in my lips' future, and forced myself to look back up into her face, seeing her eyes twinkling in mirth at my expression. "You approve?" she asked me, and I did a double take, shaking my head. Did I approve of what? Her breasts? Jesus, yes, completely...

"I'm sorry, come again?" I said instead of assuming her meaning, and she smirked.

"The bra, Bella," she said in a amused tone, making my face grow darker with the knowledge that she knew what my mind had automatically gone to. "You like it?"

"Y-yeah," I stuttered, glancing back down at it, zeroing in on the hint of her areola before shaking my head again to clear it before looking back up at her.

She giggled at me, taking a turn to shake her own head at me before leaning her face to mine and kissing me sweetly. "You're too cute for your own good," she told me seriously as she stood up off my lap and held out a hand to pull me to my feet.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked her after mulling it over for a minute, taking my shirt when she picked it up from the floor.

"You just are. Now come on, let's get you fed, and we'll take our walk," she said, pulling her shirt back on and flattening her unruly spikes that my hands had not helped in the slightest.

I grabbed her hand as she tried to walk to the door, and she stopped to look at me questioningly. "Are you okay?" I asked her, concerned about her sudden change in demeanor.

Her eyes dimmed a little, and she gave a short sigh, looking away to the window, and then back to me. "It's just a shock... it's not like I expected him to come back, and us be some happy family like in the movies, but I wanted... I wanted him to know his son."

I gave her a sympathetic look, and she gave me a half-hearted smile and a tiny shrug. "I am surprised that he even had C.J. in his will at all, is another thing. How can you spend six years away from a beautiful thing that you helped to create, but think about it long enough that you wrote him into your will?" she said in a rhetorical way, considering we had no real answer for the question. Only Jasper knew his reasons for staying away, and he took them to the grave.

We were silent for a second, but then Alice scoffed, throwing her hands up. "Enough... let's go eat. I have to figure out a way to let C.J. know about his father," she said irritably, and I followed her out of her room and down the stairs.

Esme was in the living room with the television on but muted as she played with what looked like a crossword puzzle book, and when Alice and I appeared from the confines of her room, she looked up quickly. "You girls hungry? There's left overs in the kitchen," she told us, and though Alice nodded and walked in that direction, Esme gave me a look as if asking if her daughter were okay. I gave her a little shrug, and a half nod, because I really didn't know but it seemed so for the moment. Her mother's eyes softened at the answer, and I knew her heart was going out to Alice and C.J., though he did not know, yet.

I wished I could go to Texas with Alice when she had to go, but there was no one to run the store at all if I went, and I couldn't afford the trip at all. Emmett was going to go with her, and Rosalie would stay at the estate while they were gone for the two days they would be out of state. I had seen Alice every day since James had broken into my apartment over a month before. I did not know how I was going to feel with her gone, and knowing how far away she would be. God, this was creepy... I was clinging. No. Not really. It would just be... different.

I sighed as I watched her make my plate and hers, contemplating the words that had sprung to my lips earlier, the three words that would change everything but nothing, the eight letters that have caused adults the world over the pain of life. It was too soon to have those feelings, wasn't it? But how the hell should I even know? I had never had feelings like this for anyone, save Leah, but even that was different. Leah was more like taking a swim in a pool, whereas Alice was like taking a dive off the tallest cliffs you could find and crashing into icy cold, unforgiving waves at the bottom.

She was the one that no one really believed existed, the mythical soulmate.

Knowing this deep down in my heart, is it okay that I am already in love with her?

"Oh, Bella?" Alice's voice jerked me out of my thoughts, and she gave me a grin as I focused on her face, and saw her eyes were staring right at my neck.

"What?" I asked, feeling around my neck, wincing when I hit something a sore spot.

"You might want to borrow some concealer from me to cover up that gigantic hickey I left before my mother sees it," she said conversationally, moving past me to sit at the table.

Well... shit.

**A/N: So that's 15... what do you think? Any guesses as to what might be going on between the lines?**

**Also, I have updated Hide and Seek, effectively making it a narrative. I don't know if you're here because of my astounding talents (ugh gag) or because of the hotness that is Bellice, but if you like my writing style, and you would like to see more, read When You Think You Know Her, and follow it with Hide and Seek... It is an Alice/OC story, but I get great reviews on it. So I hope new readers can enjoy it as well :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: Ugh, I am sick of typing this line over and over... Not mine. Not at all.**

**A/N: Here we go again, guys... You don't know how much I love you guys for your continued support, and this chapter goes out to a very special friend of mine, who could use a ray of sunshine in her life right now.**

**This is for you, you know who you are, and I hope this can make you smile. *hugs***

**Bella POV:**

I've never been one to be clingy, never have been, and once entertained the thought that I would never be. Harsh reality was telling me something completely different, the way I held my girlfriend to me now, waiting in line at the theater to get inside to see a movie neither of us cared to see; this was all Emmett's idea, a double date between us to see some stupid movie he had been raving about for a solid two weeks now. He said it would be a good thing to do the night before he and Alice left to go to Texas to hear the reading of Jasper's will.

We still did not know the means of his demise, be it in combat or otherwise, and I remembered the crude joke that Emmett had made the night before, as he, Edward, and I all sat together at the Mariners' game, drinking vats of cheap beer. "He probably knocked up some guy's little sister and left her like he did Alice," he had grunted when the conversation turned to that of C.J.'s estranged, and now deceased, father. "If that's the case, I think I might be a little jealous of the guy that got to do the honors."

"That's not funny, dude," Edward said quietly to his older brother, not looking up from the screen of his phone, like always.

I had merely drained the remaining gold liquid in my cup and watched as yet another of our batters struck himself out.

I shook these memories from my mind as Alice drew herself even closer to me, wrapping my brown leather bomber jacket tighter around the both of us. My silly girl had forgotten how cool it was beginning to get outside after the August sun had set in the Sound, and had worn a light cotton top with spaghetti straps with her favorite pair (i.e. my favorite pair) of True Religion dark washed jeans, and her sexiest pair of heeled boots. Her outfit would have been fine a few weeks before, but now you could feel autumn's breath begin to roll down the back of your neck, and the chill bumps scattered on her thin arms had prompted me to offer her my jacket. "We can share," she had compromised, sliding into the open front with me and closing it around us.

"Four adults for _Cowboys and Aliens_," Emmett said excitedly to the ticket keep, reminding me strongly of a little boy asking to see _The Power Rangers Movie_. Rosalie just smiled to herself and shook her head, squeezing his elbow affectionately.

Alice giggled at her brother, shaking against my front with pleasing laughter, and I couldn't help but smile as I ducked my mouth to the crook of her neck and placed a light kiss there. She turned her face to look at me, giving me a teasing smile and wink, before exiting my jacket so we could enter the building's lobby.

I hung back a little, just watching her interact with her brother and her best friend, wishing that it would be so simple when she accompanied me to Forks in a few weeks. I wished that we could go just goof off and go to the movies with Jake and Leah, and it not be an awkward fight for my attention from all three of them, while I had to be the rope which they pulled back and forth like wild dogs fighting over a piece of venison. I was not looking forward to taking her there, in the middle of all my crap from my teenage years, when I was young and stupid. I was scared of her meeting the people I used to be friends with, the ones that would be quick to pull the weed or the cocaine from their pocket and offer it to her, merely because they believe it to be polite to share. As small a town as Forks is, I knew it was inevitable that we run into some of my past, unless I kept her locked up in my Dad's house for the three days we planned to be there, and Alice is too outgoing for such a thing. It would never work.

"Bella?"

Hearing her say my name pulled me out of my thoughts and my worries for the trip to come, and I smiled at her quizzical look to try and reassure her that I was fine. She looked at me for a second like she didn't believe me, but then Emmett didn't give her a chance to really question me.

"Look, Mary Alice! They have the sour gummy worms!" he nearly squealed, pointing at the glass display at the snack counter, and Alice's eyes lit up as she rushed to his side and peered into the case with him.

I breathed a sigh of relief that he had distracted her, because this wasn't the place to try and explain to her about my anxieties about going home, and showing her where I am from. As it was, every time Leah was brought up in conversation around her when Dad and Sue were here, Alice would twitch.

Alice and I made the most of the movie by paying it absolutely no attention, choosing instead to throw ice over the heads of random patrons, and feigning interest only when said patrons turned around angrily in their seats to look for the culprit. Once I accidentally dropped a piece into Alice's shirt, and ended up trying to find it with my mouth instead of my hands, the populace was saved further torment just because the hunt for the ice turned into a rather intense make out session in the dark of the theater, one that went on until the credits rolled and Rosalie broke up by pinching the fuck out of my arm.

"Can't take you two anywhere," she complained, but she couldn't hide the smile in her eyes as she said it. Rose was very happy with me, because Alice was very happy with me.

"I don't want to go home, yet!" Alice said as we crossed the parking lot to Emmett's Jeep, with her skipping way ahead of us, and then twirling around gracefully to face the three of us. "Let's go to the club, and dance for a little while."

"We have to be at the airport at ten, tomorrow morning," Emmett reminded her, and she made a face.

"Boo! So, what? Let's go! It's not even eleven, yet! Please, Emmy?" She broke out the Look, poking her bottom lip out to her brother, letting her eyes glaze over with helpless tears.

"Fine, but I don't want to hear you bitching all day tomorrow," he relented reluctantly, glancing down at Rose to see her look up at him with a smug grin.

"I'll make it worth your while, I promise," his wife said to him, and he grinned widely, much happier with his choice now.

I shuddered to think what she meant. According to Alice, it was only a matter of time before Rose ended up pregnant, because they were like bunnies.

I didn't even need to ask which club we were attending, and as Emmett whipped his giant vehicle around the big black and blue building with its neon sign lit against the sky, I steeled myself for my first trip to _La Lune Bleu _since that one night... the night everything changed. He parked in the employees parking area, next to Edward's little faggy silver Volvo. I jumped out from the back seat of the jacked up vehicle, and held out a hand to Alice to help her down, hearing the ridiculous tones of some girly pop singer blaring from inside. Alice saw the look on my face, and she shook her head, giggling.

"I have to play what the masses want to dance to, or I don't get business, Bella," she said to me, and I nodded. I knew that, and I couldn't help but watch as her hips began to rock from side to side as we made our way to the back entrance, and Alice used her key to let us in.

I'd never seen Alice dance. I knew she could, I knew it very nearly became her profession, and probably would have if not for having her son. Therefore I was a little nervous as we made our way down the back hall past the staircase that led up to a single black door, and through a door that led out directly behind the bar that I had bought the liquor and beer from Edward, what felt like years ago. Emmett and Rosalie broke away from Alice and I almost immediately, going around the bar and down the stairs to the dance floor, and Alice looked up at me with an amused smile.

"Do you need a drink before cutting a rug out there with me?" she asked me teasingly, jerking a thumb towards the stairs, and I shook my head, though it was a white lie. A drink would have been nice. But I didn't want alcohol to affect my brain if the dancing got... heated. If I were completely sober, then I could still keep my hands to myself... I hoped.

"Well, then, what are we waiting for? Come on!" She grabbed my hand and pulled me behind her to the mass of bodies sweating together to the upbeat tempo beating through all of us, and when we were dead in the center of bodies, she pressed against me, her arms going up around my neck as I just stood there awkwardly, blushing darkly in my embarrassment, not knowing what else to do.

You see, I can't dance. Alice did not know this until now, and I saw the realization dawn in her eyes, before a tiny smile pulled at her perfect lips.

Unwrapping her arms from my neck, she reached for both of my hands, placing them on either side of her hips before pulling us closer together. She leaned into my ear and said words to me that I though were going to melt me right through the dirty floor beneath our feet: "Move against me, move with me like you do when we make out... move with me like you want to fuck me."

Tingles exploded through my entire body as I did as she said, and the song changed to one that I had heard before, though I was sure that it hadn't been quite as interesting the first time. Alice looked up at me with a smirk, knowing what was going through my head, and I wondered briefly if this was an attempt at seduction. She had tried to have sex with me twice now, once in the hotel room, and again last week in her room at Carlisle and Esme's. Both times had been inopportune, and now... About a minute into the song, the verse had started, and there was a little part... _honey got a booty like pow pow pow_... I jumped a little in surprise, both at myself, and at the way Alice turned to have her ass against my crotch, popping it against me with each _pow._ I was finding things out right about now, things about myself that I thought I could keep hidden for at least a little while longer, but it seemed were ready to be known.

I found that I was ready.

I wanted her.

Tonight.

* * *

><p><strong>AlicePOV:<strong>

If all it took was a few well-placed ass shakes to get her to loosen up, and stop being so damn thoughtful, and sweet, and chilvarous, and... just a perfect fucking gentleman, I should have tried this sooner.

I was leaving the next morning for one of the hardest things I would ever have to face, and I wanted tonight to forget about what lie ahead of me in the next few days. I wanted tonight to be about nothing but me and Bella, nothing but the two of us, despite the company we'd kept all night. It had been easy in the dark of the movie house to forget that we were not truly alone, easy to be ourselves that we were when it was just the two of us, and that's what made me want to drag this little piece of sanity out just a little longer. I was having fun with my girlfriend, effectively forgetting the business ahead, and can you blame me for not wanting to walk her to her apartment for a single good night kiss and then just leave in the morning?

What my mother does not know, will not hurt her.

A few more songs of ever-heating dancing, feeling her get more and more into it as we moved together, it all ended when her lips caught mine in a deep kiss, one that she had only given me a few times, and always right before she pulled away from me to calm herself down from the arousal coursing through her. Then the magic words: "Stay with me tonight..."

Her voice finally whispering those words with that husky tone full of promises was what I had been waiting to hear since I laid eyes on my Bella exactly one month, one week, and three days before. My fists closed on the front of her shirt and tugged her further against me, nipping at her bottom lip before kissing her in approval of her idea. I don't know how long we stood there, still in a sea of movement, absolutely immersed in each other and the way our mouths worked against the other, before I was rudely brought back to the real world.

I felt hands circle around my waist and pull me back from Bella, and then there was no mistaking the feel of a guy with a hard on grinding against my ass. I sent an elbow backwards into him as hard as I could, and he staggered back as I whipped around to give him a warning look. He was taller than me, short dark hair, dark goatee, and his thin lips were twisted in a scowl. Apparently he didn't appreciate my reaction to his attempt at dancing with me.

Well, I have always stood my the saying, "Dynamite comes in small packages." And I did not appreciate him breaking up my Bella time.

"You little bitch!" he snarled angrily, spittle flying from his mouth at the b in "bitch".

_Hmm. I've been called worse._

I opened my mouth to retort, but before I could even say anything, a flash of long brown hair and a white t-shirt flew past me, and then collided with the fool standing in front of me. My jaw hit the floor as I realized _Bella _was the one straddled across his stomach, whaling on his face. I couldn't move for the first five seconds, frozen in utter disbelief that my laid back, part-time stoner girlfriend was whipping a guy's ass for offending me. It wasn't until the guy swung up and caught Bella's cheek with a closed fist, knocking her off of himself to the side, that I darted over and helped her to her feet, holding her up, as she was a little dazed after taking the hit. I looked her over quickly, noting that he had not broken the skin, but by the way her eyes were rolling around in her head, trying to find focus, I could tell he had knocked the shit out of her, and it would definitely bruise by morning.

Anger surged through me. How dare he?

Still partly holding Bella up on her feet, I glared at the man, who returned the look with earnest, daring me to say anything to him. "You shouldn't have done that," I muttered to myself, but he read my lips, and his glare darkened as he took a step forward.

Pushing Bella behind me now that she seemed to be coming to, I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to use some of the kick-boxing moves that Kate had taught me years ago, mixed in with the formal martial arts training that Edward and I both completed as children. He bowed his chest out at me before I saw him shift his weight onto his left leg, telling me he would lead with his left fist. Easy dodge as it sailed past my face... and grazed Bella's cheekbone, probably just enough to bruise it further, which only turned my anger cold. _That's two, you son of a bitch. One more, and your ass is- _

Before I could even finish my thought, he followed with his right fist, and I caught it easily with my left hand, using the momentum to push my body back so I could coil to push him back, away from Bella, and come back with a right hook, though I had to slightly jump to hit his face. When his head jerked back from the impact of my fist, I kneed him square in the groin, dropping him to his knees, and then I right hooked him again on eye level, watching blood spurt from a busted lip, or perhaps a tooth, I couldn't tell and I didn't give a fuck.

Bella was pulling me back, away from him and towards the staff door that led to my office and the back exit to the parking lot where we had left Emmett's Jeep, and she fought harder when I tried to go back to finish the asshole off, as he flipped a bird to me as she dragged me away. I was yelling at him incoherently, and felt my world spin as I swooped up off my feet and tossed over Emmett's shoulder, as he finally had noticed the fight and chosen to stop dry humping Rosalie to help me out. "That's it, kiddo, we're going home," he said loudly, as I beat a fist on his back so he would put me down. I hated when he flipped me around like a rag doll just because he could.

"Damn it, Emmett, put me down!" I yelled as we entered the hallway, and he finally released his hold, placing me on my feet, though he did not let go of me, yet.

"You're not going to hurt him, Alice," he said placidly, and I growled at his tone and his words. "Seriously, think about it: is he really worth getting an assault-with-a-deadly-weapon charge? Because that's what will happen if you go back in there. Your hands are considered weapons." He fixed me to the spot with a stare, and I glared back at him defiantly.

Son of a bitch. He was right. The black belt in tae-kwon-do was the nail in that coffin.

I felt hands touch me again, only this time the tingles that accompanied the touch made my body relax, and my adrenaline begin to cool. When those hands turned into arms, and I was being pulled back into Bella's chest, I felt my anger melt completely away with my body, as I reflexively merged with her. She cradled my head to her neck, running a loving hand through my hair, calming me even further to the point I didn't care... I just wanted to go. I wanted to finish the night where I had planned to finish it: falling asleep in these very arms around me now.

"So... your hands are deadly weapons, hmm?" she whispered in my ear as we followed Emmett and Rose out to the back parking lot, where Emmett had parked an hour or so before.

"Black belt in tae-kwon-do," I muttered darkly, cursing the stupid title. I could have minced that guy if I didn't have that.

Bella started to chuckle, squeezing my hand before releasing it so she could lift me up to climb into Em's monster truck. "Well," she sighed a second later, shutting the door behind herself as she got settled in the back seat beside me, "I think that watching you beat the shit out of him was the hottest thing I've ever seen."

I couldn't hold in the cocky smirk that twisted my mouth up on one side. "Really?" I asked, giving her a look to match the low tone of my voice, watching as she nodded and slid closer to me. Our eyes locked, and I felt that familiar tingle as her hand touched my knee and slid up my thigh to wrap around my waist as she leaned closer to me, silently asking permission to kiss me... as if she really needed it.

Right when our lips touched, however, we were both assaulted with cold liquid right to the face, and we broke apart to guard our eyes as Rosalie soaked us with water from a plastic squirt bottle from the passenger seat, the one she used to attempt controlling Hyde when she took him to the park when I was working.

"Not in my presence, that's just wrong," Rose chided to us, and I glared at her as soon as the bottle was lowered and Emmett was laughing his ass off from behind the wheel as we left _La Lune Bleu._

"This coming from the girl I have had to watch tongue wrestle with my _brother _for the last eight years? _WHAT_ever, Rosalie, shove it up your ass... Oh, wait, I forgot, that's Emmett's thing, isn't it?" I smirked when she gave me a murderous look for putting it out there that she likes it when Emmett... well, let's just say Rose is a back door kinda girl, and it was Em's fetish that got her that way.

Emmett laughed again, only shutting up when that icy glare of blue eyes shifted from me to him. "That was uncalled for, Alice," Emmett said, clearing his throat, and glancing at Rose almost hopefully, trying to pull himself out of a dog house. I knew he thought it was funny, the ass. I rolled my eyes at him to Bella, who covered her mouth to try and hide her snicker.

"Where were we?" I mumbled to her, deciding to ignore my insufferable sibling and my ridiculous best friend, and sliding back to where I was flush with her. _Just let Rosalie try that squirt bottle again, _I thought to myself. _I'll pour the whole thing down her shirt!_

Bella and I teased and kissed the entire ride back to the estate, while Emmett and Rosalie sat up front and bickered the whole way, though I doubt we heard a word of it. I was too caught up in the sensation of Bella's mouth on my neck, and her hand massaging my inner thigh, her thumb barely brushing the in-seam of my jeans right over my aching clit, but even the slight contact was making my thighs shake every time she did it. She seemed to approve when my hand slid up the front of her white t-shirt and and tentatively cupped her right breast, squeezing just enough to make her gasp into my ear as her mouth moved up my pulse point, her teeth scraping against my earlobe, and I couldn't hold in the low moan that it incited.

"Hey!" Em said loudly, finally realizing just what was really going on behind him. "Bella, you're one of my best buddies, but that _is_ my little sister, dude. Keep it PG-13 until we get back to the 'rents, okay?"

"Sorry, Em," my girlfriend said with a grin, not taking him seriously at all. She had figured my brother out very quickly, and he wasn't really mad about it, just a little weirded out, I was sure, and Bella knew this, too. But when she withdrew her hand from my leg and moved to put space between us, I couldn't help but lock my arms over my chest, my lip sticking out in a pout.

"We have all night," she reminded me in a low voice, biting her lip as she looked at me in the dim lights from the various devices surrounding us in the vehicle. I didn't reply, but when she lifted a hand to caress my jaw, bursting tingles made me sigh dreamily, and by reflex I leaned into the touch, soaking up as much of her affection as I could. I wouldn't see her for a whole three days... I couldn't think about that now, not when we were so close to being back at her apartment, so close to being alone, and both of us so close to being together, like _that_, for the first time.

* * *

><p><strong>BellaPOV:<strong>

Emmett parked the Jeep in front of the closed garage door, shutting off the engine. My heart was in my throat, knowing that it was only a short walk up fifteen steps to my door, and that once we crossed that threshold... I swallowed hard. All that confidence and bravado I'd had at the club, and during our petting session in the back seat, had evaporated.

I was nervous.

I'd never been nervous to have sex, not even my first time, years ago. It was something that came naturally to me, something at which I had always been good... well, great. If you ask my previous liasions, I am sure they would venerate me, but none of that mattered, _they_ didn't matter. Alice mattered. Alice, the most amazing woman on the earth, the most perfect being in creation, the most valuable person in my life... she mattered.

What if I didn't do it for her, what if I-

Oh, who am I kidding? _She's been all over me from the beginning, _I argued with myself. I knew that was right, but it didn't help my self-esteem at the moment, which was quickly flying from the Jeep door I opened to jump out of the vehicle. I swallowed the nervousness long enough to take Emmett's jibe about Alice not staying up all night, and to smile back at Rosalie when she shot me a conspiratol wink, then Alice was practically dragging me up the stairs to my door.

I was quiet as I fumbled with my key ring, trying to ignore the feel of her beside me long enough to get the door open, and it did not go unnoticed by my tiny girlfriend.

"Bells...?" she said softly as I finally found the right key and inserted it into the deadbolt.

I looked at her as I opened the door and made a gesture for her to enter first, but she didn't move far beyond the doorway once she did, flipping on the light as she passed a lamp. Seeing my face in the light for the first time in quite a while, her curious expression softened as she read my eyes, and she came back to the door as I shut and locked it, leaning me against it, burying her face in my neck as her arms slid around my waist to hold me. I wrapped my arms around her, leaning my head against hers, my eyes closing as my chest constricted with so much emotion for her, so much... love, for her.

"It's okay," she whispered to me, placing a light kiss just below my ear that gave me chills. Noticing my reaction, she did it again, lingering this time, before beginning a trail of them around my throat, each more sensual than the last, until my heart was once again in my pants by the time her mouth reached mine. After a gentle lock of her lips with mine, she pulled away enough to look at me square in the eyes.

"I want you," she sang in a low soprano, the song sending a beautiful shiver down my spinal cord, and making something just below my navel jerk. "I want you so bad... I want you... I want you so bad, it's driving me mad, it's driving me..." The smoldering look in her navy eyes was the icing on the cake as our bodies unconciously drew closer together, and my hand tightened on the small of her back as she pressed her lips to mine once more, but instead of hesitantly returning it, I devoured the kiss.

Something inside of me snapped, and I couldn't control the urges my body had been fighting so long, as my hand slid from the bottom of her back to her jean-clad ass, hitching her leg up on me with a single pull, and she finished by hopping up onto my hips. My other hand caught her, though I don't know how, because the only signal my brain was understanding at the moment was her name, and it was becoming a mantra in my head as we kissed.

But still... "Babe," I panted as she once again moved down my neck, nipping at the flesh. "Are you sure...?"

A small slap on my arm simultaneously told me to shut up and keep going all at once, so I carried her all the way to my bedroom, kicking the door shut behind me. We fell onto my unmade mess of sheets in a tangle of quickly heating bodies, before I caught up to myself and my brain began to understand other things again, rather than just Alice's name.

I understood the hot air in my ear as I moved down her neck to her chest, where I had been playfully kissing and licking only hours before. These kisses and licks were no laughing matter, however, as I sucked my way down her bust to where the skin ended and her blouse began. I understood the little fingers gripping into my hair as I kept going over the fabric, teeth nipping teasingly at the little raised bumps that were her nipples poking through the thin material of the shirt she wore. Once I reached the hem of her shirt, she pulled herself up into a sitting position, letting go of me and ripping the shirt over her head indiscriminately, before reaching for mine, giving it the same treatment before I laid her back down.

I even understood the words she whispered as I continued to kiss down her abdomen, appreciating every whimper the action pulled from her parted lips. "I can't believe this is... finally happening," she breathed as I reached the button to her jeans, and then began kissing my way back up her body.

God, she was perfect... she had admitted her one self-concious flaw to me once, that she didn't like the pale strips across the bottom of her stomach, hips, and breasts that had come from her pregnancy with C.J., but as I was so close to those places now, I honestly did not see the marks she had told me about. Her belly was flat, and tight, and there was no excess flesh on her waist, only the tiny jut of her hip bones, which I nipped at affectionately on my way back to her mouth. Her breasts were amazing, cradled beautifully in the cups of the white lace bra she wore, pushed up and together for symmetrical perfection. I ran my tongue up the valley between them again, and her fingers tightened their hold when I suckled the soft flesh again, unable to help myself, before burying my face in her neck, nuzzling her with my nose, inhaling her scent and melting with the aroma of her perfume.

I braced myself over her with both arms locked in place, and stared down at her, wondering if my eyes reflected the adoring look that hers harbored, before bringing one hand up to touch her face. I needed to know this was real, too. I needed to know that I wasn't about to wake up alone in my bed, sun streaming through the curtains hanging over the one window that over-looked Esme's garden. She meant more to me than anyone in my life, even my parents, and my heart started to slam against my chest as I silently told myself why: _You're in love with her._

My breath caught in my throat as the truth of those words sunk into me, and Alice smiled at me sweetly, as if she had heard what my heart had just told my brain. My eyes closed as she lifted her face to mine to place a tender kiss on my lips, no rush in the the way she gently nudged my lips apart to push her tongue past them, enticing my own to meet hers. We kissed slowly, living in the moment, only breaking away to breathe for a moment before continuing, only the continuance picked up pace with our hearts... My hips jerked into her, and she sucked a hard breath in through her nose, and her hands travelled down my bare upper back to the clasp of my bra, making quick work of it as her hips began to move with mine, and her nails scraped up my back to hook her hands onto my shoulders for leverage as I lifted her to unsnap her clasp, as well. I pulled back from her, sitting up on my knees to slide the straps off and toss the thing aside, and her eyes never left my chest as I bared it to her for the first time. It was like she was frozen, not even her chest moved with her breath, so I knew she had forgotten to breathe.

"Beautiful," she said in awe, pushing herself up into a sitting position as well, slipping out of her bra, and I returned her gaze, seeing the most perfect little pale pink nipples I'd ever had the honors of seeing. She had started to breathe again, and I watched as they rose and fell with each inhale and exhale, but before I regained use of my motor skills, Alice had attacked me, pushing me backwards against the pillows at the top of the bed.

She straddled my right thigh, pressing her own against me as she kissed me hard, moaning into my mouth as she ground herself against me, and I reflexively pushed back, sparks flying behind my eyelids when the pressure went directly to my clit. I was lost in the sensation, wave after wave of pleasure crashing through me, and my whole body spasmed when her hands slid between us and cupped both my breasts simultaneously, squeezing hard and pinching my nipples with small tugs. I felt like a fool for the desperate noise coming from my own throat when Alice decided her hands had had enough play, and wanted to see what happened if she put her mouth where her hands once were. I'd forgotten what it was like to be on the receiving end of these sort of attentions, as the only person I had ever let touch _me _was Leah, and it was over a year ago that it had last happened. All the girls after her were just toys for me to play with. But Alice... FUCK what was she doing to me?

My back arched up from the bed as she wrapped her lips around my nipple, and the heat from her mouth made my eyes roll back into my skull, and I looked down to see her grinning from my chest, but when she bit down and my hand met the base of her neck, holding her head there so she wouldn't stop, I realized exactly _why_ she was grinning. Too distracted with her mouth on my chest, I had failed to notice that my belt had come undone, and that the fly of my jeans had been pulled open, until I felt her hand slide beneath the band of my boxers.

Time stopped, then began in slow motion as her hand moved further down... and it snapped back into real time as soon as she touched me... right where it counted most... just as it had the night we kissed the first time.

Our eyes locked as I gave a piteous moan, my body beginning to tremble with the mere presence of her touch, nevermind the way her finger slid down to my entrance and back up to my clit, where the wetness she'd collected made it skate over me easily. "Oh, Bella..." she whispered, searching my face as I bit the fuck out of my lip to hold back the next ungodly sound that was building to be freed. She laid her unoccupied hand against my cheek, stroking it, but I couldn't fight the urge to kiss her any longer, despite the need to see her face.

She moved her fingers over my clit in gentle circles at first, but when my need showed through my kiss, she pressed into me more firmly, and I grinded into her hand, our kiss matching the rhythm we were beginning to build... and speaking of building, something was beginning to swirl in the bottom of my stomach, a long lost feeling that I recognized as an orgasm in the making. _What? Already?_ It blew my mind that I was this turned on, that I was even on the bottom to begin with... this hardly _ever_ happened to me. I was a _top_, damn it!

Adrenaline shot through me at the thought of her beneath me, and I used its power to flip her over, kicking my way out of my sneakers, and pushing my jeans down my legs. Alice growled in frustration that I had pulled free of her, but then started to unzip the side of her boots when she caught on to what I was doing. I thanked God for my lava lamp's light as she exposed her legs to me when she peeled her ultra-tight fitting jeans off of herself and was lying before me in nothing but white lace boy-cut panties with the sexiest look I'd ever seen boring into me. I felt tears come up into my eyes, which confused me, but I swallowed the swell of emotion in my throat, and crawled back to her as she raised a single finger and beckoned me forth. Enveloped in her warmth, I melted against her again, and this time, there really was no stopping this.

I could feel how wet she was through the fabric brushing against my stomach as we moved together like a finely-tuned piano thrums, up and down, vibrating ourselves into a beautiful note of music; my hand came up from the sheet it was clutching, and moved across her stomach, making her tremble against me with a low moan. I could listen to that moan for hours, days, weeks... years. Mary Alice Cullen had become my sculptor, just as I was the putty in her hands, bending to her every action and wish... not even complaining when she flipped me onto my back once more, jerking the last article of clothing I wore down my thighs. Once she pulled the shorts free of my ankle, she silently let them drop to the floor beside the bed as she licked her lips, seeing me fully nude for the first time. There was something in the way she stared at me, and the way her eyes slowly rose up my body to meet mine, that made me feel a warm gush between my parted thighs, something that only became worse as her hands touched the insides of my knees and began to slowly slide upwards. My eyes slid shut again in anticipation, but just as soon as she reached the juncture, her hands were gone, and I groaned in disappointment until I opened my eyes to see her shimmy out of her underwear.

"Jesus Christ," I swore under my breath, my mouth going dry with the sight of all of her bared before me. Alice, being Alice, gave me a teasing grin, and let her hand come up between her legs, and touched herself, rubbing softly at the top with tiny gasps, until she slid a single finger inside of herself, biting her lip seductively. "Alice... oh, _fuck_..."

When she pulled her hand free of herself, she leaned forward an placed the finger on my lips, and I sucked at it greedily, moaning at the taste of her, and when she took the digit back, she sealed her mouth against mine as she reached down between us and pushed that same finger into me. My hips rose with the penetration, pulling her in, and I lost it when she gave the first pump against me, breaking free of her kiss as I rolled up against her and she slid another finger in with the first. I clutched at her as her pace picked up, and I felt that same stirring in my gut again, moaning uncontrollably when she pressed the pad of her thumb against the side of my clit, adding stimulation, but not enough to push me over the edge... yet.

She let her entire body press into me, and her hips began to work behind her hand, driving me that much more crazy, especially with the way she sucked at my neck as I whimpered and thrashed beneath her, delirious and not caring how loud I was getting. She put her mouth against my ear, licking the outer cup. "Bella," she panted hotly, sending chill bumps scattering across my overheated skin. "I want to know when you're going to come. I want you to tell me, okay?"

"Uh huh," was all I could manage in reply, because now her thumb moved over just the tiniest bit so that it was directly over my throbbing clit, and she pressed down hard, making my entire body convulse, my teeth chattering together in my head.

"Seriously. Don't you dare _think _about coming without telling me, got it?"

I couldn't answer her, but when she completely stopped and pulled her face out of my neck to show me how serious she was, I nodded quickly, just so she would keep fucking me. Satisfied, she continued, only now she moved with a definite purpose, in strong, calculated strokes inside of me. "God, you feel so good. So fucking wet, so hot inside," she whispered to me, moaning when my teeth found her shoulder and bit, unable to take this much longer, and the things she was saying made me reel.

My hand somehow made it to her hair, and I pulled against it as I felt that edge come closer, and I was forcibly reminded of the way I compared Leah and Alice, a pool to the beautifully violent ocean, and I never felt more justified in my choice than when I saw the lip of my downfall in glorious oblivion. "Alice, I'm... Shit... I'm coming, I'm-" I couldn't form the words in my mouth, and I no longer needed to try as she kissed me and sped up just a single notch, her magical hips thrusting against me so fast that I couldn't believe it was possible. There was no way I was going to be able to make her come like I was now. She was just too goddamn good.

My torso lifted, bringing us both into the air as I crested, and Alice encouraged it, thankfully not drawing out the torture of being so close, so intense that I wanted to pull free of her just because I couldn't handle the sensitivities any longer. But then it hit me, and Alice never once pulled away, riding my orgasm out with me, fucking my mouth with her tongue just as sure as she moved in and out of me in speedy, short pumps the first thirty seconds, and then brought me down with long, fluid ones. Perfect. So fucking _perfect_.

I fell out on my bed in a tingling, vibrating mess of sweaty skin and bones, chest heaving and head spinning, and Alice laid beside me, pulling me into her arms to hold me as I floated somewhere outside of myself. When I started to come to, I felt her hand petting my head, and felt her lips pressing lovingly against my temple.

"That's... the best... God, Alice, that was..." I swallowed hard, trying to come up with a word for how that experience went for me, but there was no adjective available that adequately described the ecstasy I had just went through. When my eyes finally shifted over to her face, I rolled my eyes at the cocky smirk she wore, proud of herself for the obvious.

"Yeah?" she said playfully, leaning forward and kissing the tip of my nose, her thumb brushing against my cheekbone. "Well, that was pretty fucking amazing on your end, too... God, I love your moan. But I love it even more that I'm the only one that gets to hear it, that gets to cause it."

I blushed, and she giggled, kissing me in what I was sure she meant to be a chaste fashion, but I wasn't having that. It was her turn, damn it, so I provoked her to keep kissing me, pushing her down on her back, slipping my knee up against her, pleased when I found her soaked and wanting, beautifully responsive as I rubbed against her lightly, feeling her arch to my touch. I pulled away from her mouth to catch my breath, my heart beat picking up again at the prospect of making love to _Alice, _to this little enigma that had whirled into my life and flipped it upside down, making everything in my life colorful, defined, fresh. She made me feel like a whole new being, like I had just been baptised and reborn, cleansed in the aura and essence that purely belonged to the woman breathing my name now as I worshipped the curve of her neck.

I took my time with her, not going straight for my goal, just to leave her guessing what I was going to do next, making it a point to kiss every inch of her before I ever even let my finger swipe down where I knew she wanted me to be. But once I let that finger slide down her slit, the sound she made erased every notion I had to keep up the torture, solely because I was addicted to that sound, and I needed to hear more of it. I kissed my way down her stomach, not missing when she began to push my head down, squirming desperately to find some sort of friction against me to cure whatever glorious pain she was experiencing from my lack of touch. I obliged her and kept moving down, but once my mouth came even with the heat radiating from her core, I merely let my bottom lip graze the protruding nub at the top, nudging the tip of my tongue against it, trying not to linger when her hips bucked up forcefully. Instead I turned my face and went to her thighs, appreciating the toned muscles, licking dangerously close to where I was trying not lick, but there was only so much self control I could exude.

_Fuck it. _

I latched onto her clit hard, sucking, flicking my tongue across, and I felt her body shudder all over, her voice getting louder. I felt myself getting wetter, and I snuck hand down to play with my clit while I let go of hers and moved down to her entrance, pushing my tongue inside of her instead, and letting my thumb take over above my mouth. "B-Be- ahhhh god, like that, faster!"

It didn't take long, and I wondered if I was wrong when I let the thought pass through my mind that I wouldn't be able to make her come like she had me.

Alice came undone, and there's no other way to put that, because I think a handful of my hair came undone at the same time, but I did not mind in the slightest, and found myself feeling just a tad smug as I took everything she gave, and I didn't release her until I felt her grip on my head slacken.

I placed one last kiss to the hood of her overly sensitive clit before I pushed myself back up to the top of the bed, watching as she panted, her hands covering her face, which was bright pink in exertion. The way her hips went nuts against my face scared me that she could possibly break my nose. I smiled at her when she finally uncovered her eyes, and she lifted a hand and tossed it at my chest, rolling her eyes. "Don't get an ego swell, yet," she whispered to me, reaching up to cup my neck and pull my face closer to hers. "I've only just started."

* * *

><p><strong>Somewhere in Seattle:<strong>

She cleaned the cut above his eyebrow, looking into his blue eyes, not understanding why he was so obsessed with these two women. Wasn't she enough for him? Didn't she treat him the way he himself had trained her to treat him? Was she not pretty enough? Was Alice Cullen going to dominate every fantasy for him forever, no matter how much she loved him, no matter that she was built for him?

He had already cut his beautiful hair she so loved to run her fingers through, and had grown a scratchy beard to cover his square jaw. He had even tried to convince her to dye her fiery mane, but there she put her foot down; and now she was a prisoner in her own home. James wouldn't let her go anywhere, scared that she would be spotted, and in result he would have to pay his penance for his sick obsession with Alice Cullen and Bella Swan.

"Why, baby?" she asked him tearfully, not afraid to show him how much his actions hurt her. "Why did you have to follow them to the club? Why didn't you just come home after the movie?"

"You don't understand, Vic," he told her firmly, not meeting her green eyes. "That bitch Alice _humiliated _me for years, treating me like I was the scum on the bottom of her designer pumps... And Bella seems to be the only thing that makes Alice happy, and I would know: I've been in the shadows of her life since high school."

"Is that why you felt the need to go to Texas? I think it was unnecessary."

His anger brimmed, and before she knew it, she was bent over holding her stinging jaw in her hand as he stood up to his full height and placed himself inches from her. "Don't you ever talk to me like that. He was going to ruin everything for me, Vic, he knew things about me that I couldn't have that faggot Emmett finding out, in case Whitlock decided to come back. He had to be _silenced_."

Victoria's shoulders began to quake with sobs as James turned around and stalked off to the bathroom in the hallway, the door slamming shut behind him.

_What have I helped him do?_

**A/N: Thanks for reading. Almost 400 reviews... Wow. Just amazing.**

**The song used in the club scene is Usher's OMG... good song, trust me, I know ;)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: All Twilight characters are property of Stephenie Meyer, I just use them as lesbian Barbie dolls and make them play house.**

**A/N: No excuses valid enough for my absence. Only work, females, and well... life. I am sorry for the wait, and I hope I have readers left. For my Hide and Seek readers, expect an update soon... I am trying to fight with my silent muses, guys. Thanks for the reviews, the support, and the major love you guys show in every add/alert/review.**

**AlicePOV:**

I didn't even have the usual "Where am I?" thought when I came into consciousness, I knew _exactly _why I was warm, toasty, and satisfied. The lingering smell of her Curve cologne was now mixed with my Dior, and it was intoxicating me, making my mind wander over the last few hours of my life. Everything was fresh in my mind: every touch, every kiss, every whisper, every gasp of her pleasure and mine. These memories were something that would never fade, as I smiled to myself in my reflections of the past few hours, and then the smile abruptly faded.

I had to leave to go to Texas today.

Feeling a shock roll through me, I realized that I might be running late, and jerked up into a sitting position in Bella's bed, frantically looking around the room for a clock. Bella had woken up with my sudden movements, and was now rubbing her eyes while muttering my name disorientedly, but I ended up flinging the blankets off of myself and scrambling around her room, looking for my purse. I remembered leaving it in the living room, and threw her bedroom door open, running down the small hallway, bare-assed naked all the while. I spotted it beside the door and grabbed it, hurrying to the couch. I didn't bother with the usual rummaging I would have to do to find it; I dumped the contents out on Bella's sofa, and snatched the device right up.

7:10 A.M.

Breathing a deep sigh of relief, I quickly set an alarm to go off in exactly an hour, and made my way back to Bella's dim room. She was finally off for a day, and it bothered me just the slightest that I had to leave on that day off. We had decided that she wasn't going to the airport with me, that it was too dangerous for her to be exposed like that without Emmett near; he was still very paranoid about James' inactivity. It didn't seem right, for him to come on so strong, then to just back away.

All thoughts of James, Texas, and leaving Bella and C.J. for three days while I was so far away flew from my mind as I stopped to appeciate the beauty sprawled across the bed before me. Bella was on her stomach with her arms wrapped around the pillow her beautiful head rested on, the blanket pulled down to her waist, leaving the succulent stretch of her back bare for my appreciation. She had shifted to the middle of the bed, so there was just enough room for me to slide right in beside her, and I did so slowly and carefully so as not to wake her again. I laid on my left side, facing her, keeping my head propped up with my left hand while I trailed the fingers of my right down her spine and back up again, before moving to follow the curve of her hip, dipping just below the blanket, where my eyes couldn't see. I smiled when I heard her sigh, and bent forward to place a kiss right at the top of her back, between her shoulder blades. She was so perfect, I could cry.

Though she was taller than I, she was still thin, with not much muscle to her at all, very soft. There was not a violent bone in her that I could see, though she had gotten herself a shiner in my honor last night, showing me how protective she could be. There was a certain strength to her silence, to her compassion, and it made me feel safe, safer than I had ever felt. Bella was a concrete pillar in my life now, and I knew I could trust her to never let me fall, or to ever break me. I saw it in her eyes when we made love; it was just that, to both of us: love. But I also knew it could be a while before either of us admitted it to the other, despite the fact that I also suspected she knew more about my feelings for her than I have told her thus far. I was head over heels in love with her, and it was _nothing _I had felt before.

I felt the tears fall before I ever even realized they'd formed at all, and before I knew it, I was curling up against Bella's prone body, sobs racking through me. At first I felt silly, not knowing exactly why I was crying. Then it all hit me: C.J.'s face when I told him Jasper had died, his broken blue eyes. Whatever emotion I had for Jasper turned into a bitter anger, one that I had held dormant for six years, and it shook my body violently as I tried not to hate him for leaving, for dying without ever meeting his _son_, the perfect little person he had a hand in creating. But we had only been children ourselves then, neither of us had a clue about where we would go, or who we were going to become, but a child came into our lives; he ran away, leaving me to raise our son alone. I remembered listening to Pink Floyd in my room at my parents after he left, C.J. in his baby bed with his beautiful smile that reminded me of Jasper's, despite the hint of my dimples in his cheeks. I remembered singing "Wish You Were Here" softly to C.J. when he'd cry, and how it seemed to help. Pink Floyd got me through a lot in those first few years after he was born.

I never wanted to be with Jasper again; no, it wasn't that kind of sadness a lover experiences at loss, and I did not feel like his widow just because we shared a child, and he was now gone forever. Jasper and I's time together was just a memory to me, but C.J. was my gift from it. I loved Jasper in a different way, and in my young inexperience in the matter, at sixteen and seventeen years old, I mistook it for romantic love. I knew better now, now that something as extraordinary as my feelings for Bella had taken root and begun to flourish.

I snuggled further into Bella's warmth in her comfort, thinking of how she held me the night I heard the news, how sweet she was to me, how _there_ she was with me to hold what pieces of me she could; she caught the shattered parts of my heart and held them safe, and was now slowly placing them back together, sealing the cracks with her slightest touch, healing me more with every embrace... God, I don't know what I would do without her, especially now, when all of this...

All of a sudden I was in that very embrace, and she was nuzzling the top of my head, her arms tightening around me to help hold me together once again. I folded up into her, allowing myself to be consumed in all that was _Bella_, just losing myself in the soothing balm that she rubbed sweetly all over my heart, until the sobs lessened, and finally became none. She still didn't let go, even after I became still, her nose buried in my hair, her lips against my ear, whispering.

"It's okay, my tiny dancer. We're here for him, and I am here for you. We'll get through this, baby, trust me."

I nodded, not trusting my voice at the moment, smiling softly at the nick name. Her words did spark some fiery flame of hope somewhere inside, and I was more than grateful for it. I was aware that Bella was slowly becoming a somewhat parental figure to C.J. in my mind, because Rosalie had pointed it out the other day to me when we all went out to the park for Bella and Emmett's lunch break: Bella looked at my son much like I did, and it was no secret that my son adored Bella almost as much as he did Rosalie, who was like a second mother to him.

"Are you okay?" she said softly, reaching down to tilt my face up, looking square into my eyes.

I cleared my throat, nodding again, but she wasn't accepting my dismissal of the sobs she'd woken to, and gave me a semi-stern look that had a concerned tenderness behind it, and she said my name in a tone to match the underlying emotion. "Alice..."

_"Hmm?"_

_"Nothing, I just really like saying your name."_

I smiled at the memory. Despite the circumstance it had been under, that was the moment that I knew I had met the most adorable person on the planet.

"I'm fine, I promise," I said to her now, reaching up to push a lock of hair behind her ear, brushing my thumb across her cheekbone.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" she asked, grabbing my hand and intertwining our fingers.

I shook my head, holding her steady gaze, subconsciously moving closer to her. It had registered in my head that we were both still very naked, lying pressed together in her bed, and the with the realization came the prickles of arousal. It was like something went off in Bella's head as well, because her eyes changed from that concerned look to one of slight amusement. "You are quite the little bunny," she chuckled, shaking her head in amazement, but complying by throwing her leg over my hip and pulling me into her.

"Can you blame me?" I said in a dry whisper, letting my eyes fall down her beautiful body before coming back up to meet her still-laughing dark chocolate eyes. "Look at what I have to work with, it's Absolution." With that praise I dipped my head forward and tasted her collarbone with a generous suck, feeling a jolt shoot through me at the soft moan she gave. I loved it, it made me feel possessive, like scary possessive because it was such a rare, beautiful thing to be intimate with Isabella Marie Swan. It was something to be cherished, this right that I, and now only I, had.

Her hips began to move against mine, and she ducked her face to catch my lips, kissing me hard for a long moment, then pulling away to ask in a breathless whisper, "Don't you have to leave? We don't have time for this, do we?"

"About forty-five minutes," I breathed back, not stopping the slow, delicious grind of my clit against her thigh.

She chuckled lightly, rolling me over on my back, pulling me further into her in this position. It was amazing how well my little body fit into her longer one, snug and intimate, pressure in all the right places when she moved against me in that thoroughly fulfilling way she did the night before, buried deep inside of me. I moaned a little at the memory, and at the way her hand lightly cupped my breast now, her thumb rolling over my nipple, slowly teasing it to harden, before lowering her lips to it, pulling softly and letting the tip of her tongue touch it for the most brief of moments. I arched into her soft kisses, my chest beginning to heave with the onslaught of sensations, and the ever-present knowledge that it was Isabella Swan I held in this moment. It was she, the Absolution, that was conducting the choir that my heart, lungs, and hips merged to form, raising my body in such a hymn that I felt I could fade away with end notes, disappearing into the unknown.

She was a wonderful musician in more ways than one.

And what, I ask you, do dancers do in response to the music? Why, they move to it, of course; and it was pure reflex for me, as I drowned in her song with the rhythm she played for me. "Inside, my Bella," I whispered to her as she met the base of my neck with her kiss, feeling her body shiver in my arms with the request, before she nudged my thighs further apart and moved between them.

She lifted herself up on her right hand as she snaked her left between us, tracing her fingers lightly across the very bottom of my stomach, watching my eyes as I squirmed from the sensation, my muscles rolling with her touch. There was no smirk in her gaze, no playfulness. It was serious, deep in her dark eyes that seemed endless in that moment. My heart skipped a beat when she pressed the tip of a finger against me, not breaking that eye contact that I felt like was burning me, making me want to fall into her, give into whatever it was about this woman that made me fly. She never said a word as she pushed into me with a firm pump, forcing a small whimper from me as she immediately hit a sweet spot inside. By some unspoken knowledge, I did not dare to close my eyes, wanting to see her just much as she wanted to see me as we moved slowly together.

I didn't like her supporting her weight above me, and I gave an impatient tug on her to pull her down against me, bucking against her hard as our bodies crashed together, gaining a moan of approval from her as she mirrored me and thrusted just a bit harder, pushing herself up again, but I didn't relent my grip on her and came off the mattress as I wrapped my legs around her waist as well, pulling myself hard against her. She held my weight and hers easily on one arm, showing me that she did have some physical strength despite how thin she was, and only seemed to move harder and faster against me based on how loud I was getting, trying to muffle myself in the crook her neck. I was very close to coming, and Bella knew it, pushing a very direct finger against that spot inside again, almost tapping it like it was a guitar string she was hammering. Here it was, I was rising, there was that tingling feeling that started in my toes and came up my calves, that great shuddering of muscles, the white explosion behind my eyes... And there was Bella, crying out when I sank my teeth into her neck as I climaxed, the sound making me cling onto her even harder before my back hit the bed again, Bella fully on top of me.

It wasn't until after I'd kissed the sky that I registered the knocking coming up the hall from Bella's front door, and the voice that was shouting words through it.

"Mary Alice Cullen, this is your mother! Open up this door right now!"

Though we were both equally exhausted from before, and couldn't catch our breath, both of us went silent with the realization that we were busted.

Oh, god, I hope she wasn't serious about the no-spending-the-night thing. I didn't take her seriously, but thought it was funny that Bella had, and then asked me, anyway... but whatever, let her be mad. I just had the most wonderful night of my life, and her bitching me out was not going to ruin it.

"Shit," Bella hissed, throwing herself off the bed and running circles around the room to find something to put on.

"Calm down, I'll handle this," I said soothingly, sweeping my legs off the mattress and finding my discarded clothes easily. I smoothed down my sex-hair, glancing breifly in the mirror of Bella's bathroom to make sure I was presentable. My lips were a little swollen, and my face still had the remnants of the flush from my orgasm, my skin a little shiny from the remaining sweat. I probably reeked of sex, but it didn't matter. Mom knew why I was in here, she had seen it coming since the night Bella came downstairs from my room with the hickey on her neck. I just didn't want to put it in the open so brazenly.

Bella tugged a hairbrush through her hair quickly, a pair of basketball shorts and a baggy black t-shirt now covering her. I frowned a little at that; I rather approved of Bella in absolutely nothing. But I digress...

"Ready to face the dragon?" I teased her, and she looked at me with an audible swallow, her face chalky pale (aside from the brilliantly purple bruise around her right eye) and covered in a sheen of sweat that I was positive had nothing to do with our previous encounter. I reached for her hand, and she took it gratefully before we went up the hall to open the door together.

"Young lady, what did I tell you when Bella moved in here?" were the first words out of my mother's mouth when I opened the door, blinking at the new sunlight filtering in from the trees to the east.

"No spending the night for the first six months," I replied automatically, and the corner of her mouth twitched in what I knew was a smile, but she hardened the line of her lips.

"Then why did I find your bed empty this morning, when I came in to get you up and moving?" Mom said, her hand going up to her hip, her head cocking to one side as if she could hear my reply better if she jutted her ear towards the sound of my voice.

"Because last night was the night," I told her simply, and she paused, looking from me to Bella, who was very interested in the dirt caught on the metal brace of her doorway's threshold, the curtain of her dark hair covering the black eye from my mother. "You know, the night where you don't ask, you just _do._"

Bella chanced a glance up at me, her eyebrows furrowed in question, and I gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze, and her dark chocolate eyes shifted away and back to the floor.

"Isabella?" _Oooh, not her full name, Mom, come on! _I flinched a little at that, but my mother pressed onwards as Bella turned her tortured brown eyes up to look directly into my mother's hard emerald gaze, which widened at the sight of the affliction. "What do you have to say for yourself? You knew the rules, too."

Bella swallowed hard, and didn't break her eyes away from my mother's as she croaked out her reply. "It's hard to sleep without her, Esme. Sex, or no sex, I love having her against me when I wake up."

I grinned in exultance, hearing her say that, and my heart swelled once again with my affection for this skinny, awkward, _amazing _woman. Mom's eyes softened at her response, but she didn't release the purse of her lips quite yet. "I'm not going to ask about the eye, yet, Bella; but do put some ice on it, dear. And Mary Alice, you have to be at the airport in an hour. I suggest you get moving."

"I'm coming," I promised, and by the way my own _mother_ looked at me with a slyness to her eyes, I knew what was coming before she said it.

"So I heard, while I was trying to get you out here," she said dryly, turning and walking down the steps to return to the main house.

Bella's jaw was on the floor, and I giggled at her expression, reaching up to close her mouth. "Aw, love, where do you think Emmett gets it from? My father? Ha, that's a funny joke. Mom is the perv in the family."

Bella shook her head in utter amazement. "Wow, I pictured that going a lot differently. I thought she was about to evict me."

I closed the door, pulling Bella to me by the strings of her basketball shorts. "She would never," I said confidently. Mom and Dad liked Bella, and loved having her around, because she was a blessing to each of us in various ways.

"You have to go," she whispered as I ducked my face beneath the curtain of her long hair, attaching my lips to the soft skin beneath her jaw.

"Not until I say goodbye to you," I argued softly, kissing my way up her jaw to her lips. I could kiss Bella for hours, and never grow bored or tired. She was perfect for kissing, with her soft bottom lip I loved to lick and nibble on. Don't get me started on how responsive she could be when I sucked it between my teeth and tugged at it, the sexiest little whimpers coming from her throat as her body pressed so firmly against mine...

_Alice, you have to leave, and you can't stand here and tease Bella into a frenzy before you do. _It's easier to tell yourself something, rather than to just do it.

It was Bella who ended this assault of my lips and tongue, reaching up and tangling her fingers in my hair to gently guide my head back far enough away to look me in the eyes. "As much as I love this, you are going to be late for your flight if you don't get going, tiny dancer," she said, and my soul lifted with just that little nick name. I loved it.

"Okay, fine," I said, pouting just a bit, and moving a fraction of an inch back from her body heat. "And what's with this new name you've given me?"

"No one has ever called you that before?"

"No, and why are you so surprised about it?"

"Just suits you, is all... hey, come here, just for one more minute..."

With that soft request and my obliging, she kissed me again, and I felt in this kiss everything she would not voice aloud for now, every bit of love she possessed for me, and I gave it all back to her before we broke away, noses touching and foreheads pressed flush. "Be safe, while I'm gone," I said to her almost pleadingly, and she chuckled.

"I could say the same... God, Alice, I don't want you to go," she whined, pulling me tighter against her. "I want to pull you back into my room and make you sleep all day with me."

"There's plenty of time for that, Bella. I am sure that's not the last night we'll spend together... it was amazing, unreal, being with you like that," I admitted shyly, turning pink as I casted my eyes downwards.

"Last night was the best night of my life thus far," Bella said in a low whisper, catching my eyes for my reaction to the news, but I felt relieved. At least she felt the same way about our night as I did, and that information in itself sent me flying. Her hand lightly traced the curve of my jaw, and she leaned forward just bit to place a gentle kiss to the corner of my mouth. Seeing the dreamy expression float across my features at the romantic gesture, Bella smiled. "Hurry back to me, baby. I have the feeling I won't be the same without you."

"You know I will." _I love you._

I swallowed those three words and turned away from my heart, leaving it in the strong, callused fingers of the woman I saw standing sentry in my life for years to come. Sometimes I got strong feelings about events, and people, and I very nearly always was right. I had this feeling, as strong as the one I had when I "saw" Jasper leaving me... my Bella would be right beside me for a long time to come.

* * *

><p><strong>BellaPOV:<strong>

Somehow I made it back to my bedroom when Alice left, seeing it in the dim light coming in from the blinds. My bed was a tragic disaster; there was no other way to describe the tangle of sheets and blankets Alice and I had left in the wake of our love-making. Staring at the bed, knowing what its dishevelled appearance meant, I stood still, having flashbacks from every moment in the walls of this room from the last six hours. It all came to a rush of heat flowing through me, this happiness, this excitement, this unrestrained feeling of OH MY FUCKING GOD FINALLY surged through me, and I, Bella Swan, _squealed_. I squealed like a five year old girl finding out she's going to Disneyland, and took a running leap into my bed, burying my face in the linen, inhaling deeply for confirmation through finding Alice's scent on the fabrics. I found it and resultantly moaned when she invaded my sense of smell. Then I came down from my Alice-high with the reality that she would be gone for three days, and I would be here alone, and completely bored out of my mind, as I didn't even have to work for the first two days she would be in Texas.

_But we made love for hours before she left,_ I reminded myself, and couldn't stop the grin that stretched across my face. I had it bad for Mary Alice Cullen, and for some reason, I was damn proud of it, damn proud of who held my heart, who owned my affection.

I forced myself out of bed and into the shower to get ready for the day, because I had promised Esme and Rosalie that I would come to the gym with them and Garrett today, being as Emmett expected his affable partner to keep tabs on me _and_ Rosalie. In result I was Rose's bosom-buddy for the extent of Emmett and Alice's absence. Once upon a time, that would have terrified me, but Rosalie and I got along great, as she had come to trust me a little more with her best friend, and her nephew, for that matter.

It was C.J.'s third day of school, and I knew that after we finished lunch, we were to pick him up from the private school he attended. I was excited, because I had fun with him after school the day before, helping him do his homework, then playing guitar with him for about an hour before I left with his mom, aunt, and uncle for our double-date. His progress on guitar was baffling, to be soft. He had learned and memorized eleven chords, had discovered half of them by himself, and had taught himself... a version... of the intro of "Iron Man", all by ear. I was more than impressed with his enthusiasm, and his ability. One day, he was going to end up teaching _me_ things on the strings.

* * *

><p>"Jesus, Bella, that guy sure did a number on your face," Rosalie said with a scowl, reaching out and taking my chin in her hand, turning my face this way and that, eyeing the damage that asshole had inflicted.<p>

"I know, but I am sure Alice did something much worse to his," I answered grimly, and I noticed Esme's eyes flicker to me in the rearview mirror of the Suburban when I metioned her daughter's name. Rosalie leaned back into the passenger seat from where she had streched across to the back to survey my shiner, and Esme gave a brief look at her daughter-in-law.

"What exactly did you kids get into last night?" she asked Rosalie, who shrugged and looked over her shoulder at me again.

"Bella, what did you and Ali get into last night?" Rosalie said in an innocent tone, as if she weren't one of two people dragging Alice and I away from that pervert on the dance floor. I rolled my eyes as I scratched under my chin to give Rose the finger without being too blatantly obvious with it in front of Esme.

"Nothing, really. A guy tried to dance with Alice, and he didn't seem to want to respect her decision not to," I said airily, as Rosalie rolled her ice blue eyes at my hand gesture.

"And you felt the need to have a physical altercation with him, because of it?"

"Of course, he called my Alice a bitch, I wasn't going to have that... Esme, I'm not a violent person, I swear, I just couldn't handle the way he looked at her... like he wanted to, I don't know, _eat _her." I shivered at the memory of the way his eyes roamed over my girlfriend like he would fuck her right there in front of everyone, if given the chance. It wasn't the normal "Oh, hell yeah, I'd hit that!", either. It was more like a sickening expression where you just _know_ this freak is going to end up killing you; wild-eyed, predatory. It reminded me alot of James, actually, and I stopped with that thought.

"Rose," I whispered dryly, thinking hard back to last night. He was about the right size, his voice could have been the same, but I couldn't really tell over the music because we were so close to the speaker stacks. "You don't think that guy last night could have been James, do you?"

Rosalie turned around again, her face carved into a look of deep thought. "I don't know. I can barely remember the guy from school, and I haven't seen anything but the footage from the camera in the club. You know how pixels distort images... I don't know, but I hope not."

"I don't think you kids need to be at the club during operating hours," Esme said angrily, her hands tightening on the steering wheel. "It's too dangerous, with this insane man stalking you two! I told you and Alice when this all began that neither of you girls needed to be out in public late at night."

"Emmett was with us," Rosalie countered, not argumentively, but just stating the fact.

"I just wish I could get my hands on that little son of a bitch! I'd show him just whose daughter he is messing with!" Esme said loudly, making Rosalie and I both jump at her volume in the enclosed vehicle.

We shot each other scared looks; I'd never heard Esme cuss, and I was left under the impression that she didn't. By the look on Rosalie's face, I was quite right. But it didn't just stop there.

"I'm scared for all of you, because if he would go after Bella in an attempt to affect Alice psychologically, who is to say that he would not go after someone else she loves?" she went on, and I didn't let on my surprise that she had implied that Alice loved me. Was it that clear? Could everyone see what I merely _thought_ I could see? "God forbid it be my grandson he goes for, or I will personally plant a bullet between his fucking eyes myself!"

"Esme?" Rosalie said meekly, cautiously reaching out to touch her mother-in-law's arm. "Do you need me to drive? I'm not sure, but I think Garrett is getting ready to pull us over for failing to maintain your lane."

Garrett was indeed behind us, following us to the gym to work out, and Esme was indeed swerving a bit in her anger at the situation. Considering he was in his unmarked squad car, he had every bit of ability to flip on his blue lights.

Esme took a deep breath and let it out, letting her window down a crack to let some fresh air into the truck. "I'm just frustrated that this is happening to my children, and there's nothing I can really do about it," she said a second later in tired voice, sagging a little in her seat.

"It'll be okay, he will get every bit of what's coming to him, Emmett will make sure of it," Rosalie said confidently, looking back out towards the road, a far away look crossing her light blue eyes. I had a feeling of where her thoughts had drifted, and then my own floated to Emmett's sister.

They had left Sea-Tac at ten this morning, it was a four hour flight, but they were two hours ahead of us, so... they would be landing at two, our time, and four, Central time... I glanced at my phone, seeing it was not even noon, yet. I still had two hours before Alice was supposed to call me and let me know they landed safely in Killeen.

"So, Bella, are you sure you don't want to try out that yoga class?"

Rosalie's coercing tone brought me back to reality, away from thoughts of Alice, which were quickly turning into memories from last night and this morning. I groaned, letting go of all hopes that she had forgotten about trying to drag me into a yoga class for beginners, and resigned myself to the fact that it was going to be a long three days.

* * *

><p><strong>AlicePOV:<strong>

Texas was exactly what I pictured it to be: a whole lot of nothing. Emmett and I exited the plane to the rental car he had set up to tote us around for the few days we'd be here, and we set out for the hotel. The first thing I did after taking my phone out of airplane mode was call Bella.

"Hey!" she said happily into the phone as a greeting when she answered on the second ring.

"Hi," I said just as happily, relief from homesickness I'd not yet registered flooding through me. "We made it, and we're on the way to the hotel."

"Okay," she said agreeably, and I could picture her serious nod that she gave when she had the tone she held at this moment. "We just got home from the park, and now C.J. and I are going tackle some math and science homework so he can get on with his recreational reading... isn't that right, dude?"

I heard my son give a grunt of acknowledgement from somewhere near Bella, and I chuckled at his reluctance to do his homework. "Oh, yeah? Well, what's after homework?" I asked her, and she gave a long hum as she thought about it.

"I don't know, dinner, a shower, some guitar, and then it's lights out for C.J., and then I get to go home and play some guitar, too, since you're not here to keep me company tonight."

I felt a twinge of sadness that I wasn't there to help out with the homework and watch them play together. I loved watching Bella show C.J. things on the guitar. She was so patient with him, and they had a great time cutting up and laughing together at things that it seemed only the two of them understood, because all of it sailed over my head (insert random short joke here). Witnessing her interaction with my son was a major contributor to how hard I fell for her. How could I not love her, when it was plain she loved him?

"Well, do you think maybe you could give me a call, you know, when you get out to your place later?" I couldn't fight my voice dropping into a bit of a private tone, surprising the both of us with what I think we both found: it sounded like I planned to seduce her over the phone. Not a bad idea, but also not what I really meant. I wanted to talk to her about what happened between us the night before, since we hadn't really had the chance; we had gotten a little distracted with round number seven... or was it eight?

"Y-yeah," she stuttered out, and I couldn't help but smile at the thought of her cheeks tinting red right now. "I can call you tonight, after I am out of the shower."

"You can play your guitar first, Bella, I won't be going to sleep early. I have some things to do with some paperwork that I have to email to Edward before we go to the lawyer's office in the morning."

I heard her shift and tell C.J. that she would be right back, and I knew she was sneaking off to talk to me away from his ears. "Sorry," she mumbled to me, "I just didn't want to talk about this in front of him. Are you okay? How are you feeling about the meeting?"

"I'm okay, and Em will be right outside if I throw a tantrum. The worst of it is that I have no idea what they are going to tell me." This was true; it bothered me that I didn't know how Jasper had died, and how they wouldn't tell me over the phone. It bothered me a little that he had been killed in the three weeks that James had fallen off Seattle's map... but it was too far-fetched, wasn't it? Why the hell would he go after Jasper, anyway?

"It's probably some legality or another regarding his life insurance, or something simple as that," she said, and I sighed, thinking about how I didn't want his goddamn money; I wanted him to be there to help raise his son.

I had been following Emmett through the small terminal, and we stopped in front of baggage claim and read the small screen to find our flight in the order. "You're probably right." The call waiting on my phone beeped, and I pulled it away from my ear to look at the number calling me, seeing a number much like the lawyer's. "Bella, I'll call you back or text you, the lawyer's calling my phone right now."

"Okay, I'll talk to you later."

I watched Emmett wrangle all four duffel bags, shaking my head at him as I switched the call. "Cullen," I said, as per usual when I take business calls.

The voice on the other line was not the deep gravely baritone of the lawyer, but a light and sweet voice. "Hi, Miss Cullen, this is Ashley with Mr. Hanerfrom's office, I am calling in regards to your ten o' clock meeting with Mr. Hanerfrom, and Mrs. Jasper Whitlock, scheduled for tomorrow?"

My head went numb, and I stopped walking through the airport. "Mr. Hanerfrom and _who?_" I said, not sure if I had heard her correctly.

"Isn't this Mary Cullen?"

"Yes, but- I have a claims meeting with Mr. Hanerfrom at ten tomorrow morning, yes. But who else did you say?" My throat was dry by now, the truth of what I heard beginning to sink in even before she confirmed my fear.

"Mrs. Whitlock, the beneficiary for her husband's estate. She will be attending the conference with you, which has been moved to today."

"WHAT? TODAY? _MRS. WHITLOCK?_" Suddenly my phone was taken from my hand as I ranted on in public, and I didn't notice nor care.

How dare he leave me with a month old child and then go get fucking _married__! _Doesn't karma exist? Where the hell was that bitch when that blonde-haired rabbit-toothed redneck left me for Uncle Sam? And now, apparently, _Mrs. Whitlock..._

_Why do I even care? It's not like I ever wanted to be with him again... but C.J. shares a surname with a woman he nor I knew existed. _

William Jasper Whitlock and his many secrets. Fuck him.

Emmett snapped his fingers in front of my eyes after my yelling had subsided into a silence that stretched long enough for him to take care of the rescheduling like a professional assistant, and to tug me gently through the front doors into the sunlight. I blinked rapidly, looking around at my surroudnings, and saw the dark blue Ford Focus sitting curb side with our luggage sitting in the back seat.

"I know it's not your Beemer, tiny, but it'll do," Emmett said playfully, mistaking my silence for disgust with the vehicle.

I merely shrugged and got into the passenger seat of the vehicle, opting to let Emmett take the wheel to the office. I had enough on my plate, dealing with this nice little Texas Howdy.

"How could he, Emmett?" I said in barely more than a whisper on the ride a few minutes later, breaking the monotony of the whirring engine of the car.

"I don't know, Alice," Emmett said slowly, not trying to joke at all for once in his twenty-six years. "I know you think it was because you weren't enough, but Ali... look at what you have now, and weigh that out with what you had with him. Sure, he gave you -us- C.J., but that's all there was to him. You fought, he was jealous, he was selling drugs, lying to you about selling drugs... Alice, you say you were drunk after prom, but from what you described, if you had gotten that drunk your first time, you would have died... I think that asshole dosed you just like that guy did Bella; you just weren't as lucky as she was."

I didn't like to admit that these thoughts had run through my head before, about what really happened on the night that I lost my virginity, and conceived my son, respectively. I liked to think Jasper was dark and misunderstood, and that I could have fixed him. But I knew that Emmett had a valid point in his words. I had so much more with Bella in two months than I had with Jasper in nearly two years, a feeling that was never there with him, even when things were at its best with us. "What's done is done," I whispered, silent tears sliding down my face as I stared out of the window at the endless blue sky.

"I'm sorry." He said it so softly that I barely heard him, but I appreciated it nonetheless. Emmett is not only my big brother bear, he is also very much one of my best friends, and he knows me like no one on this planet. I needed time to get over the shock, and I would bounce right back and be fine. I just had to get this damn meeting over with first.

* * *

><p><strong>Outside the Cullen Estate Gates:<strong>

_So that's Garrett Liberty,_ the man thought to himself, hitting his cigarette as he watched from the treeline across the paved rural road from the officer pulling into the gates and dialing in a code... _If only these goddamn things were stronger,_ he thought wistfully, glancing at the binoculars in his other hand.

Things had been slow for him since he got back from Texas, minus one of his favorite toys. He cursed himself for using the blade he had picked out for Isabella, tainting it with Whitlock's dirty, mangy blood. But he'd never forget the squeal Whitlock gave as he pulled Frances across his jugular, and the red spurt of blood from the arterial wound. His mouth watered just thinking about it, and his cock hardened at the fantasy of it being Isabella or Mary Alice under the blade next time. He gave the front of his jeans a comforting rub, spasming in the slightest at the contact on his sensitive organ. _Soon, _he told himself, _soon I'll be inside, outside, in front, behind, living and breathing their bodies... _He moaned at the thought and gave in, sliding the zipper of his pants down and fucking his hand, tightly wrapped around his shaft, desperately and frantically. Images of their bodies, splashed in red, flashed in his mind and he felt the release building, his breath automatically stopped and he held it as he fell to his knees, jerking and bucking for all his worth as he imagined how they would scream and plead... how he would be their God at that moment, how he would wield the power, and the cock... he wondered if they had fucked yet, or if Isabella was still being a pussy...

He lit another cigarette and leaned back against the rough bark of an evergreen, having tucked himself back in his pants after his ending, and resumed his watchful post. He glanced at the time on the face of his phone. Vic would be pissed at him for being gone this long. Ha, Vic. What a joke, that bitch was, is, will always be. She was on thin ice, and she didn't even realize it. He had wanted to taste her blood for a long time, and though she had let him sample, he wanted gorge himself on her life. He only kept her around because she knew how to take orders, and she was smart, smarter than he could ever claim to be. Without her, there was nothing to this little plan of his, this aspiration he was seeing come to fruitation after so many years, and now, with the addition of Isabella. He smiled, licking his lips. Lucky that they had come together, lucky for him, as it was like killing two birds with one stone... or one blade, anyway. He had wanted her at first sight, and he, himself, couldn't have placed her with a better partner to make the game more interesting for him. Mary Alice would pay, and he would have his fun with her little girlfriend.

He fingered the package in his pocket, and pulled out the sheath of a long hunting knife. Extracting the contents, he gave a sigh of contentment as the silver blade shined seamlessly in the light of day.

"Soon, Persephone, so very, very soon," he whispered lovingly to it before pressing his kiss to the hilt and replacing it in its wrappings. "You get to meet them soon."

**A/N: So, everyone likes knowing what's going on with James and Victoria, right? If you guys don't like it, I'll stop lol I think it gives demension, but I digress...**

**...and I want to state for the record that I hate writing his mind. He's sick lol**

**I forgot to credit a song last chapter, The Beatles "I Want You (She's So Heavy)"... rectified.**

**I really didn't like this chapter, so I hope it's okay for you guys. I just felt that it was better than nothing, and I had this waiting... so yeah. Hope you guys can still leave me thoughts and feelings. :)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: Twilight and it's characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. La Lune Bleu's plot and C.J. belong to me.**

**AlicePOV:**

My hands were shaking like the eaves of the roof tops in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. I felt queasy, like if I opened my mouth I, and everyone in splatter-distance, would not like the results. Emmett was tight-lipped and silent beside me as we waited in the lobby if the lawyer's office for his secretary to send us in. The only other occupants of this room were a woman and a little boy, younger than C.J., both with olive-toned skin and dark ebony hair, though the little boy looked lighter in color than his mother, who was holding him in her lap, stroking his hair. They looked upset, and I felt my heart go out to the woman when her little boy looked up, murmured something I couldn't catch, and the woman's face gave an attempt at a smile, before her face crumpled in pain the moment that her son had looked away.

Her black eyes, shining with unshed tears, locked onto mine before I could manage to pull my gaze away from the two of them, and there was a flash of recognition. This puzzled me at first until I realized who this woman could be. I pinched Emmett's arm discreetly to catch his attention, and he jumped at the sharp pain with a low hiss. "I wonder if that's Jasper's wife," I whispered to him once he leaned his giant head down for me to whisper in his ear. "She just looked at me like she knows me."

"Ask her," Emmett muttered, his iPhone going off in his hand with a text from Rosalie. I rolled my eyes at him in all his clueless manliness.

"I can't just ask her that!" I whisper yelled in his ear, and he grunted and shrugged, leaving me to sigh and slump back into the leather couch, defeated. "Useless," I muttered darkly, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Chill out, you're acting like C.J.," my brother said, not looking away from the glass screen. "You'll find out as soon you get called in."

I gave a sigh, my head rolling to the left and my eyes gazing out into the clear blue sky, not a wisp of cloud in sight. Jasper's wife could be sitting in this very room with me right now. She could be the woman, whose eyes I feel have not left me from the moment she caught me staring at her and her son. She could already be inside the office with the lawyer, tying up the loose ends, and childless. I wondered when Jasper had decided to he was ready to be married. He had always flinched when my dad would bring it up, and often left me feeling like he didn't have feelings for me that were strong enough to include marriage. But that was before I got pregnant… after that, the Jasper I knew slowly faded into a silent, careless man… until I saw the life in his eyes when he told me he was leaving us.

"_I'm sorry, Alice, I'm not ready to be a father… there's so much I haven't done, so much I want to do, and I can't drag you and a kid around with me. I enlisted, and I leave for basic training next week… Goodbye, Alice."_

The door clicked shut, and he was gone. I never saw him again.

"Ms. Cullen? Mrs. Whitlock?"

The secretary's voice pulled me out of my memory, and I faced the little pale blonde girl that stood off to the side, holding open a door. "Mr. Hanerfrom is ready to see you both. If you would like to leave William with me, Mrs. Whitlock, we had a really great time with the copy machine, yesterday."

I looked to my right and watched the Latino woman stand to her full height, and closed my eyes in pain at how beautiful she was. This answered a lot for me. I wasn't a woman in the way she was, and Jasper married her because she was everything I was not. She had legs, long, slender legs that ran miles outside of the simple black skirt she wore. She was blessed with a perfect curvature, one that I couldn't help but admire (and envy). Her wavy hair fell over her shoulders and she had intensity to her eyes that could melt someone, though that gaze was now on the secretary rather than me.

"Thank you, Ashley," the woman murmured in accented English.

_Oh, and bilingual, too? Well, hell's fire, Jasper… If you hadn't married her, and I weren't head over heels for Bella… Why, I approve, old boy!_

"I'll see you when you come out," Emmett said, giving my shoulder a squeeze. "Look at it this way… maybe we can catch a flight home tonight, or early tomorrow." He shrugged, after giving me his little piece of silver lining.

"Tonight and I don't care if we have to drive to Austin to get it," I said under my breath as I got to my feet and made to follow Jasper's widow through the door.

* * *

><p><strong>BellaPOV:<strong>

I found it hard to concentrate when I was trying to help C.J. out on his homework, completely worried when Alice didn't call back, and instead sent a text saying that the meeting had been moved to today, and that she just found out that Jasper had a wife. She had gone out this morning thinking that she had until tomorrow to mentally prepare herself for whatever the Army was going to tell her about Jasper, and now the moment she's off the plane, she has to go through the damn thing. Was that even allowed? Changing the time of a meeting like that, when one of the attendees is flying in from out of state?

"Bella! You told me yes when I asked if six times seven was thirty-six, but it's not, its forty-two! Six times six is thirty-six!" C.J.'s indignant voice pulled me out of my thoughts, and I looked at him too see the key held in his little hands.

"Hey, none of that, hand it here!" I said, taking the times tables away.

"Well, you're not paying attention!" he said, fuming and stomping his foot in frustration. "You said we would hurry up through this so we could play guitar!"

"Sorry, dude," I muttered, knowing he was completely right. "Come on, we're almost done…"

I struggled through the next thirty minutes, helping him wrap up everything, including his reading, which he hated to sit through. Esme called up that dinner was ready after we had marked down his reading time on his log and I had given my signature of witness.

"Lasagna!" C.J. screeched, bolting to his feet and out the door.

I shook my head and finished replacing his notebooks in his back pack so he wouldn't forget them in the morning, because I quickly learned that he and Alice were a lot alike in the mornings: both usually awoke sitting straight up in bed, then proceeded to run around like cats on catnip, until they are finally out the door, both of them in such a hurry they've forgotten their pants.

Dinner at the Cullen house was a bog affair every night with everyone packed into the kitchen with a plate in hand, and hopeful look on their face that there will be something left by the time they get to the serving pot. There were usually seven or eight people, give or take an Emmett, which crowded around the room, plates with varying degrees of fullness; plus Hyde, who ran circles around everyone with his tail wagging at the prospect of falling snacks. Then somehow, as a group, we would find our way to the dining room table to start the actual dinner. The usual questions for C.J. about his guitar, and now school; making fun of Edward's hair from Emmett, Alice, Rosalie, and I; Edward whining to Esme to make us shut up; Carlisle pretending nothing was going on as C.J. regaled him with Randy Rhoads 101; and Esme trying to show us all attention, showing all of us her love.

Tonight was different. The absence of Emmett and Alice was like a silent scream to all of us, and talk around the table was cut to a minimum. Edward barely even spoke at all, with the lack of his older brother and sister taking shots at him, and neither Rose nor I had the heart to fill that silence. Rosalie wasn't even really eating, just picking at the food on her plate, her doll-like face cupped in the elegant cradle of her hand, light blues eyes clouded as she stared down at her fork as it moved. C.J. seemed oblivious, jabbering away about this new song we were working on, excited to hurry and eat so we could play.

All I could think about was what Alice was doing at this moment. I wondered what was being said, and how she was taking everything. My arms twitched at the thought of her being upset, and not liking the fact that I couldn't be there, should she come apart again. This morning had been something else to wake up to, not that I minded being there; on the contrary, I _reveled_ in the fact that it was my responsibility to be her rock. But that was my whole problem right now, wasn't it? That I couldn't be there for her, that it seemed like weeks before she would be home and I could touch her again, just to make sure she was whole?

"Bella?"

I looked over at the shining blue eyes that were Alice's given to her son, and couldn't help but automatically grin back at C.J. when I saw the dimples that were also from his mother. Once he had my attention, he shot a look down at my plate and back up at me with a hopeful gleam. "Are you done, yet?" he asked, and I laughed to myself, giving him a nod.

"Let's go. I'll meet you up in your room as soon as I grab my guitar." I watched as he tore off to his bedroom, and then my eyes met Rosalie's as I stood up with my half-eaten plate. I gave her a questioning look, and she shook her head, giving a little shrug. I knew there was something behind the way she looked at me, but I would have plenty of time to question her later, as she was staying out at the apartment with me, at Emmett's request. So instead of dwelling on it, I turned to Esme and thanked her for the meal, then went to the kitchen to take care of my dishes.

It was chilly outside with the sun going down into twilight, and I shivered a bit as I crossed the gravel driveway to the garage. _Definitely grabbing a hoodie, _I thought to myself as I reached the steps. Five seconds later, as I opened the door to go inside, I heard a twig snap echo from the trees behind the garage. I froze and slowly looked up from the key and lock, my hand never moving away. I didn't see anything, scanned the tree line for two minutes before I felt secure enough to allow myself to believe it was only a deer, and let myself inside my apartment. I threw on the first hooded sweatshirt that my hand could find, and grabbed the electric and my practice amp, knowing that he wanted to hear me play Black Sabbath, because that had almost become akin to a bedtime story for him. With my Stratocaster in its bag across my back, I had one hand free to grab Love for the lesson before locking my door behind me as I made my way back to the main house. On the trip back inside, I couldn't help but to let my eyes slide to the woods, still searching the tree line for whatever had made that branch snap. I didn't hear footsteps, so I thought it could be higher off the ground… _Christ, it was just a deer, Bella! _I squared my shoulders and picked up my pace, my Chucks crunching the little bits of rock beneath their soles.

The lesson with C.J. went much like usual, very smooth, with only a few pauses for him to try and catch on to what I was showing him. His speed and accuracy with his pick was getting better, as it well should have been, considering the boy wore his guitar like a third arm. I couldn't help but feel a certain sense of accomplishment with him, like I had started to mold a man that would sometime wield a great weapon in the form of his six-string. I got shivers when I thought about the music this little boy sitting across from me would make one day, in the same way I got shivers when I lay in the dark listening to Jimi Hendrix.

It was after the lesson when he was in the shower and I was setting up the amp for his bedtime song(s) that Rosalie appeared, leaning on the doorway to the hall, arms folded and watching me pull the cord out of its coil. "What's up?" I asked her, and she sighed, pushing herself upright.

"Just wondering if C.J. was asleep… I guess the lesson ran over?" she said with a wry grin, and I blushed, knowing it was more my fault than his that we did indeed go over the allotted hour. But I had stopped charging for C.J. weeks ago, feeling wrong about getting paid to spend time with him, which I loved, so it wasn't the money she was talking about.

"Yeah, it was my fault. I elaborated a little more than usual… we got a little deep with it. I am going to play whatever he asks me to play, and then I'll tuck him in for the night."

"May I listen, too? I mean, we all do, every night. But may I watch tonight?"

I shrugged. "Sure, it will be just a few minutes." I paused as I plugged the input into the port in my Fender. There was so much more to this than what Rosalie was willing to say, and it was obvious. It was starting to chaff a little, and I was fighting with myself about whether or not to say something. But I have never really been able to keep my mouth shut on things like that. "Rose, is there something you'd like to talk to me about?"

"Maybe," she said softly, looking away for a second before looking back at me with that penetrative look, making me feel like I was being X-rayed. "I don't know, yet."

I rolled my eyes at her cryptic answer, and leaned the guitar against the amp as I turned to fully face her. "What's this about?"

"My nephew and my sister. It's always about them, Bella."

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No, you haven't. That is part of what has me worried… everything seems too good to be true, I guess." Rosalie fixed me with a cool stare, and I swallowed hard, not in intimidation, but in anger. I did not like where this was heading, and I needed C.J. to hurry up and come back before my temper made this little glimpse in Rosalie's head escalate into me losing control of my big mouth.

"Calm down, Bella. It is good things, but… I am really scared for Alice, and I am _twice_ as scared for C.J. You want to know the reason I think he didn't take the news about Jasper so hard? Want to know why Alice took it harder than he did? Because he is naïve enough to believe that _you _will be here, that _you _are for all intents and purposes his father… and Alice isn't so naïve, she knows that there's a chance that it won't last… So C.J. wouldn't have anyone in that role… but you are becoming that, for _him_."

"Is that so bad?" I said without really thinking. "I'm not going anywhere, Rosalie, I love him, and I love—." I stopped, realizing that I was about to tell her something I hadn't even told Alice. "The point is," I continued quietly, "that I am not going to leave. I just don't see it happening. You don't have to worry. Now, did you really want to watch, or were you just using it as an excuse to spy on me and him, so you can assuage your fear that I am going to break him?" When she didn't answer, I went on. "Besides, it's not like C.J. has ever had a father, besides Emmett and Carlisle. Jasper left, remember? He gave up two beautiful people to run off and start a life somewhere else, with someone else, and left my Alice in shambles, and that wonderful little boy with no father. Do you really think I am going to follow that asshole's example? I thought you were getting to know me, Rosalie."

My heart was in my throat and it was making my whole head pound with pressure, and I could only imagine the color my face was at the moment. Rosalie looked at me with an amused look that held in her eyes, and didn't reach her mouth to make it smirk, thankfully. Had she smirked at me at that moment, I might have punched her, and felt bad about it afterwards. "No, I want to watch. You're really good, and I guess I am curious about what Alice has… because she really has you, doesn't she?"

"She does," I said, calming down a little. "Completely has me… all of me."

Rosalie smiled then, not a sarcastic smirk, a genuine smile after hearing something she wanted to hear. "Good," she said, in an almost relieved tone, "Because you've got them, too." I didn't miss that she included C.J., and knew it was because I could not have Alice without her son, and that was completely and utterly fine with me.

"Aunt Rose, what are you doing?" Both of us jumped a little when C.J. appeared in the door, looking back and forth between us with a suspicious squint to his blue eyes.

"I wanted to listen to Bella play tonight," Rosalie answered, perhaps a little too quickly, and C.J. looked at me, his eyebrow slightly raised, and I was forcibly reminded of his mother again.

"Yeah, she wants to listen," I said stupidly, averting my eyes from his by picking up the guitar and slipping the strap over my head. I was automatically comforted by the weight of it, and the feel of the strings against my fingers. Home.

"Come on, boy, get in bed," Rosalie said, stepping aside and making a gesture at his unmade twin bed. "I'm ready for the show, and we're waiting on you."

C.J. jumped into his bed and sat cross-legged and took on the rapt expression he kept the entire time I played, like he wouldn't blink if he didn't have to. I smiled and shook my head at him, using a toe to turn on the amplifier. "So, what's your tune tonight, C.J.?" I asked him, and he thought for a second, his nose scrunching cutely.

"Um… 'N.I.B.'," he said happily, settling in even further to listen as I began the song on his voicing the choice. I enjoyed playing "Nativity In Black" just for the fact after the guitar prelude, C.J. always came in with Ozzy's "Oh yeah!" and then I rocked it out for his entertainment, banging and making the playing face and everything as I jammed along. I had even forgotten Rosalie was watching, as well, by the time I was into it, and then it was over and there were two people clapping.

"Okay, okay, that's enough. Under the covers with you, dude," I said with a laugh, starting to clean up my mess of guitars and cords as he scrambled under the Wall-E bed covers on his bed.

"Are you going to need some help carrying those out?" Rosalie asked me, and I shrugged, making a gesture to the amplifier.

"You can tote that out with us, if you want."

Both of us saying good night to C.J., we turned his light out and lugged all my crap out to my apartment. Right when we made it inside and set the crap down in the living room, my phone started buzzing in my pocket with Alice's name and picture popping up.

* * *

><p><strong>AlicePOV:<strong>

"Please have a seat, ladies," the older gentleman said, standing behind his desk as the two of us entered the office, and gestured to the two leather studded chairs on the opposite side.

I didn't look over at Jasper's widow as we seated ourselves side by side, unsure of what I might feel if I locked that gaze again. I wanted to yell at her, shake her, and ask her if he ever mentioned C.J. I wanted to scoff and sneer and treat her like she wasn't worth the dirt on the ground. I wanted to blame her for Jasper's disappearance. I wanted to make her feel just a piece of what I had gone through the past few years after he chose to leave.

I wanted her to be Jasper.

"So, as soon as Sergeant Kline shows up we will be ready to disclose contents of Private First Class Whitlock's will. I apologize for the short notice of the meeting change, but some serious business came up for the time slot we'd agreed on for tomorrow. Ms. Cullen, I am glad you had arranged for an early flight, which makes it easier."

"Mmm," I said noncommittally, not really making eye contact with him, either. I just wanted this to be over. But there was something I wanted to know, and I knew that at least one person in this room knew the answer. "How did it happen? Was he killed on duty?"

"No," his wife answered softly from beside me, and I felt forced to finally look at her again. "He was murdered on his way home from the grocery store. They found him in his car, several miles away from the parking lot, with his throat sliced open."

I winced. Murdered. Ice cold liquid ran through me, and I shivered, looking away from the pain in her eyes, focusing on my heels and the circular pattern in the rug beneath them. Then I looked up at her again. "I'm very sorry. For you, and for your son," I said quietly, of course thinking of C.J.

"As I am sorry for yours," she answered just softly, and I shot her sharp look, until I saw the sincerity in her black eyes. "He wanted to come back. He wanted to know him. He was afraid of what would happen, of how you and your family would react. Jasper loved him."

_And me? Did he give a damn what he did to me?_

I swallowed the words and forced myself to nod, not wishing to have a confrontation with this lady, who didn't seem malicious to me at all. "He could have come back. C.J. always said he would, that he would want to know his son." I choked on that last bit, wishing with all my might that Bella were there, if only to hold my hand while I sat through this.

A dark skinned hand reached over and clasped mine, giving a small squeeze. "Alice," she said, and I looked up, feeling the tears flowing down my face. "He never forgave himself for what he did to you, or to C.J. He regretted it until he died, I swear to you. And it might be too late for him to know Jas, but it's not too late for him to know his brother. William will be thrilled to meet the big brother he's always known about."

I sobbed a little harder at the mention of "brother", because I had always wanted him to have a sibling, but never in a million years did I think it would be a wish granted quite this way. "Of course," I whispered, letting go of her hand to reach up and wipe my eyes free. "If we can arrange it, I would love to have them meet."

The door opened again, and Ashley ushered in a man in an Army uniform, the official looking one with all the badges and pins, and he took off his flat hat as he entered. "Mrs. Whitlock, Mr. Hanerfrom," he said in a business-like tone, nodding his head first at Jasper's widow, then at the lawyer. When he looked at me, his hand came out and I took it without thinking. "Sergeant David Kline, Miss…?"

"Cullen," I said, shaking his hand. "I am an old friend of Jasper's."

"Excellent young man, honorable soldier," he said automatically, and I felt like I should keep my personal opinions about Jasper quiet around this guy. "It was a pleasure serving with him as his superior." Then he looked at Mr. Hanerfrom. "May we proceed? I have to get back to base as quickly as possible," he said apologetically.

"Of course, of course. Maria, you have the letters, do you not?" Mr. Hanerfrom looked at Jasper's widow, Maria, and watched as she opened her purse. "These letters were made out to Mary Alice Cullen and Christopher Jasper Whitlock, and under any circumstance save his death, were not to be given, nor read."

Maria handed me two envelopes, one thicker than the other, and I held them both in my hands, looking at the familiar handwriting scrawled across the top one: Alice. Mine was the thinner of the two envelopes, and that made me feel just bit better. He had seriously written his son. I could give a damn what Jasper wanted to say to me, he owed his son a series of novels. "C.J. cannot read his until his seventeenth birthday," Maria said sadly, knowing that eleven years was a long time to ask my son to wait to see what his father said to him. "Jasper left a special note that you wouldn't give a damn what he said, but he asks that you please just trust him."

I couldn't hold it in. I scoffed. Loudly. "He wants me to fucking _trust him?_ Where does he get off saying that to me, of all people?" I said indignantly, and Maria gave me a sympathetic look,

"I know, but please… he's gone, and you can't do anything to provoke him. For your son's sake, just wait to give him the letter."

I didn't reply, but I knew that I would wait. For whatever reason that asshole had to ask that I please trust him, I would wait until he was seventeen. "Is this all?" I said, perhaps a little sharply. I was very ready to go right back to the airport and buy tickets home. I wanted nothing more than to kiss my son good night, and then curl up with my Bella. I didn't want to be in Texas any longer than I absolutely had to be.

"Well, no," Maria said gently. "There is the matter of two things that C.J. inherited: Jasper's pocket watch, which I have here." She handed me the old gold watch with the elk inscribed on the cover, with its long golden chain. I recognized this. It had been his father's, passed down to Jasper as his oldest son… the tears sprang back into my eyes at this acknowledgement from the grave, that C.J. is his oldest son. "And the matter of the thirty thousand dollar life insurance policy that is to be divided up between C.J. and Will. I have a check in C.J.'s name for fifteen thousand, and Jasper wanted it to be put to his college fund."

I bit my tongue again about what Jasper wanted.

"Fine. Thank you for being pleasant, Maria. I am sorry I can't hold my composure to show you the same courtesy, but you must all understand how uncomfortable this is for me. If this is everything, I will see myself out." I looked at everyone, saw no objections, and got to my feet, all three envelopes and the watch in my hand. "Mr. Hanerfrom, I would be much appreciative if you would pass along my contact information to Maria." Shifting all my things to one side, I freed my right hand and stretched it toward her. "I hope to speak to you soon," I said, and she smiled, nodding as she shook my hand.

"We will. My best to your boy… my stepson," she said kindly, and I smiled.

"Thank you, and my best to you, and yours. Thank you all for seeing me." With that, I excused myself from the room, politely closing the door behind me. I stopped for a second to sit and put all the things I'd been handed into my purse, and Emmett caught sight of my heaving chest, jumping up immediately.

"Are you okay? What happened in there?" he asked quickly, and I shook my head as I zipped up my purse.

"I- I need a few minutes, Em," I told him, trying to keep my voice from shaking, but failing miserably. "I have to p-process everything, a-and then I w-will tell you." Once everything was secure in my bag, I took a deep breath, and released it slowly, before even attempting to stand. Emmett reached out for my elbow, scared I would stumble once we began to walk. "I would prefer to talk about it once I am on a plane, headed home," I said a few seconds later, sighing at the thought of seeing Bella before the sun rose again the next day.

Jasper had been fucking murdered. That was the tip of the ice berg. The letters… What might be written in them, I didn't even have the strength to want to imagine. C.J. had a half brother named William, which was ironic, as between the two of them, they made Jasper's full name. I wondered if he did that on purpose, because it was at his insistence that C.J.'s middle name be the same as his, but he and I both settled on Christopher for his first name. It was in Maria's hands to contact me about the two boys meeting, and I had completely forgotten to ask how old Will was. Judging by size, he looked to be about four, or maybe a tall three, because Jasper was tall and lean. C.J. was small, but not as small as I was at six, so I knew he would have Jasper's height. William seemed to be about the same build as C.J. It was going to be a lot easier to see Jasper in my son when he was standing next to his brother. I didn't know how I felt about that quite yet.

Had the world gone insane in the past few months? I find Bella, we get stalked, Jasper is murdered, he was married, and C.J. has a younger brother? What planetary alignment had caused this House to shift into that whatever-the-hell-else-it-is, but-it's-fucking-up-my-chi? How does so much happen in three months?

I'd never been so relieved to pull out of a parking deck in my life, and I felt that this plane ride back, though it would feel like the longest ever, would be just as relieving. I was ready to go home, back to my life. I looked at my phone, seeing that it was only seven o' clock, so that meant it was five at home. Bella was still helping C.J. with his homework. I chewed my lip, debating on calling her, but deciding that I didn't want to interrupt his homework. So I put my phone in my lap, and leaned my head back against the head rest of the passenger seat as Emmett drove us back to the airport. I would call her when I was boarding the plane.

* * *

><p><strong>BellaPOV:<strong>

"We'll be home around one," Alice said to me, and I froze on the spot, looking at Rosalie with a hopeful smile.

"Really? What happened? Why are you guys coming back so early?" All the questions shot out of my mouth at once, and Rosalie stood up, her hands going up on her hips as her face turned into one of incredulity.

"And just why in the name of _hell _did Emmett not tell me?" Rosalie snarled, and Alice giggled at her best friend through the phone.

"Tell her we have reserve seats, and we're lucky we're even getting to come home tonight. We are getting on the plane now, so I will see you in the morning."

My mouth fell open. "Does it really have to be in the morning?" I asked, thinking that I wouldn't be able to sleep, knowing she was back and not beside me.

"Well," she said teasingly, drawing the word out, "I could grab the spare key to your apartment, let myself in, and climb into bed with you."

I felt the stupid grin before Rosalie could even scoff at it. "That sounds much better. I'll see you in a few hours. Be careful."

"Always am, babe," she said softly, and I felt the shivers run through me at the tone she held. It was almost as if she had told me she loved me.

It was silent or a solid thirty seconds when I put my phone back in my pocket and looked at Rosalie, who was lounged out on my couch, fingers interlocked behind her head, face devoid of emotion as we stared each other down. As the silence grew heavier around us, she finally spoke, popping the growing bubble.

"You've got it bad," she said flatly, and then immediately after burst into laughter, her hands coming down to cradle her stomach after a second.

"Why is it funny?" I snapped, whipping the nearest couch pillow at her, but she caught it and slung it back at me.

"Just the eat-shit dopey grin on your face. Don't worry, Bella, it passes after a while… you come down off the high, and then life really begins."

Come down from the high I got from Alice? No, thank you.

* * *

><p><strong>Seattle:<strong>

He had been lucky to find them where he did, at that hole- in-the-wall bar down near the water, but he still wasn't pleased with the poor quality of his models. They were generally under par in dives like that one, but also easier to convince to ride along, the mistake that these two women had made tonight. _Stupid bitch, just because she's a Volturi , she thinks she can cut me out of the club line?_

Things had not gone his way that night. He had planned to choose his models from _La Lune Bleu _but the doorman had recognized him from the slight dispute he'd had with his ladies the night before, and wouldn't let him in. So he then tried another club not too far away, but the doorman there picked him up and threw him from the door. "Jane's put the word out on you, motherfucker, if you show back up here, you won't like what happens," the burly red-faced guy said to him, a rigid finger jabbing his face hard and digging into the flesh. "And don't bother with trying anywhere else, you or your little red-headed botch. Word is the Cullens are out for you, and we don't fucking play with Carlisle Cullen."

_Fuck Carlisle Cullen, _he thought to himself as he pulled the smaller woman's frame closer to the taller of the two. _Wait until he sees this… and imagines his precious little girl right here in my hands._

He tucked the lifeless head of the smaller one into a chest nuzzle on the other corpse, pausing to cock his head to one side, trying to remember the way he had seen them sleep together the night he'd met Bella. He'd stood right there and watched them sleep, and either was none the wiser about it now. This urge he'd had then became useful now. He pulled the taller woman's left arm up, placing the bloody hand over the open wound on the other's throat, then reached up to the shorter woman's black hair and pulled a few loose tufts out, left from the shears when he'd cut it for the photo shoot. It had to be the right amount of uneven layers, so the reference could be unmistakable, just the other woman's hair had to flow long and be somewhat mahoghany-colored, both girls slim with pale skin. "Alice" wasn't as small as her real counterpart, but he compromised with the skin color and her thick black hair, and "Bella" wasn't as skinny as her own, but the hair once again sold him. It wasn't like he had room to be picky, as all his venues were now denied him.

Satisfied that his models were ready, he stood up and moved back, surveying them for the best angle, and found it at their hip level. He'd waited two weeks on this Polaroid camera to come in, and he still couldn't believe Vic managed to find it. He took several shots, in a few different poses, but it would be that first one that he would leave in the mailbox for them to find. It was time for them to know just how much he thought about them, how much he craved them. How much he missed them.

That's the note he wrote across the white strip at the bottom of the picture, admiring it as the whites and reds developed on the film. "Miss u"

He looked at the tenderness he'd orchestrated between his models and felt his pride rise. This was just as he pictured it. Now all he had to do was get rid of the clothes and the purses, and drop the picture off at the Cullen gates. He'd be back in time to get a quick suck from Vic, take a shower, and get some sleep before he had to meet that Volturi bitch the next day, to buy his way back into his own fucking market. If she weren't related to Aro Volturi, the only man anyone in Seattle feared, she would be lying here in this picture, playing his "Alice". He had seriously considered Jane for the part, because of her hair color and the fact she was just as small. But using her would have caused a lot more shit than he thought necessary, so he decided to use unknowns. He would save Jane for another day, and possibly another dollar, if he waited until Vlad called in the plan that they had talked about for Volturi, Incorporated.

Cleaning up everything but his artwork, he silently slipped out of the same back entrance he'd entered through with the two women thinking they were going to an underground rave. It was Vlad's warehouse, and Vlad could give a damn what he did with his spare time, as long as he brought him the money on Friday.

It was a brief car ride to his dump spot, a small cliff on the way to the Cullen estate, and he tossed the bag of their belongings over the edge without so much as a second glance. He was too excited to leave his gift for them to find while Emmett was out of town for the next three days with Alice. He'd been tempted to take Bella when he had seen her enter her apartment alone earlier that day, but he wanted the two of them too much to settle for the one.

He knew what would happen when they found that picture. Emmett would put Bella and Alice together and under lock and key inside the walls of the estate, and go into manhunt mode. That was exactly what he wanted, because Emmett wouldn't know he was inside the very same walls, so he would look outside first. Emmett Cullen might find him, he might kill him, but before he would get the chance, James would make sure he was too late.

**A/N: ... Better than last time, right? I try, guys, I promise. I am just always busy or distracted... my phone has lately taken to going off... all the time... and it's hard to juggle writing with that kind of distraction... not that I am complaining about the distraction lol**

**..also, I have a new computer that WORKS! So that's a plus to the more frequent updating, as my old one crashing put a damper on it, as well lol**

**ANYWAY thank you for not flaming the crap out of last chapter. It was rough at the end, and I appreciate everyone stomaching it long enough to finish. Should I start putting warnings when I write James' POV? **

**I hope you guys liked it.**

**Thank you guys for the continued support even through my absences. Your opinions mean the world to me, and to the survival of this story. So thank you to those who review, and a thank you to the silent readers, as well. :D**

**"N.I.B." is Black Sabbath, not Bella Swan, nor A.S.R.**


	19. Chapter 19

The administrators, as of June 4th, are going to be taking down Fics that have lemons or have extreme violence. Now I don't know about you but I think thats stupid. There are many wonderful fics that only have one or two lemons in them yet the plot itself is awesome! You can't just take down a 100,000+ word fic just because it has a lemon in a chapter that is only 1000 words long. Now I urge you all to read the petition below, sign it, and repost this to your own fics. Hopefully if we make enough noise everything will return to normal. Thank you.

Greetings to the fine folk that moderate our site.

Myself, along with many, have been writing and posting on your fine site for years now, some of the better examples of up and coming writers out there are now suddenly finding some of the stories we've come to love at risk of being removed without the chance to even rectify our errors.

For some, that means the permanent loss of a story. While I don't have anything that I believe violates your terms of use, there are those out there that are never able to recover a story in its original form, this is something I find to be almost worthy of a legal action, as while we cannot claim ownership of a character, the stories are OURS and simply destroying them is something that is inexcusable.

It's quite easy to simply add an MA rating, additional filters or even a simple requirement for a free membership to read the stories presented here, and would cut down on hateful anonymous reviews and posts at the same time, so I have to question as to why such a thing, in all this time, simply wasn't added.

If you're worried about falsification of a registration then have an appropriate disclaimer and then there can be no dispute, you took your steps and the PARENTS didn't monitor their children, if that is even your concern. If it is more of a personal view or desire then please at least let people know and give them a chance to remove a story that you and yours find offensive, most people on the site are actually rather cordial when it comes to such requests.

While I cannot say for sure if this letter will even reach those that may be willing to listen, of if it's more akin to a wide spectrum purge in preparation for something bigger, please understand that you are going to be looseing a LARGE number of your writers, and thus your income from a lack of readers if there is not some level of action taken to help with this situation.

For those that may agree with this, please feel free to sign on and send this to the support server, maybe we can get some movement on this.

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A.S. Rainwater


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I own nothing Twilight.**

**A/N: This is my reply to the recent news that has come to light. Take this, FF. *virtual finger***

**Outside the Cullen Estate, 12:38 a.m.**

He kept to the wood line on the walk from his car to the Cullen gates, to slide this in the ornate mailbox fastened to the stucco of the gate walls. He glanced down at the picture clutched in his hands, even though he couldn't really see it in the darkness around him, and felt that same sense of pride rise inside of himself. He wished he could be there to see whomever's face when they pulled his little bit of photography out of the little black box. How perfect his timing, how perfect that Emmett's giant head was in Texas for the next two days... thank God Vic had traced that from Alice's bank account, that she had purchased the two tickets to Killeen, to tie up loose ends in the act that _he _had committed, the end of Jasper Whitlock, and the end of the secret that had brought that little blonde-headed brat into the world. James bit the inside of his cheek, the old wound beginning to prickle again. When he handed off the dosage to Whitlock, Whitlock had promised him that he would have Alice after he had gotten the initial fuck. He remembered laughing at Whitlock, as the lanky bastard tried to fumble his way through explaining why he hadn't fucked her, yet.

"_She has to be a fucking carpet muncher," Jasper had moaned to his secret friend, the one whom he never sp__oke to within the walls of Puget High. "I've tried everything: the dating, the listening, the eye contact, the chick flicks, and fuck the shopping! She'll let me get a handful of those perfect little tits, and then she pushes me away: 'no, Jas, I'm not ready', blah blah blah... fuck, J, can't a guy catch a break? We've been dating for ten months!"_

"_You're lucky you even get your hands on her tits," James had muttered sullenly, as he carefully weighed the powder on the digital scales in front him. "What I wo__uldn't give to just suck a fucking nipple! Your girl is something else, man."_

_Jasper grinned smugly, handing over the hundred dollar bill in exchange for the substance. "If this shit works, then after I'm done, I'll call you... you can have her before she comes to..."_

James shook with rage at the memory. The shit had worked all right, and Jasper had spent the whole night fucking Alice in every position he could put the bitch into... Whitlock had made sure to brag on it, when he had come to thank James for such an awesome time... until five weeks later, when Jasper Whitlock told him with a pained face that Alice was pregnant... and it was no doubt his. If Whitlock had stuck around after the kid was born, James might have felt it was a fate well-placed. But as Whitlock tucked his tail and ran like the pussy he really was, James served justice in his way... for his Alice, but mostly for the fact that the call never came on prom night... and James had been ready to go.

He was still ready to go, nearly seven years later.

He heard the roar of tires on wet pavement in the distance, growing louder as the vehicle grew closer, and shrank a little further into the trees, hugging the dark in his black attire best he could. Though his car was parked on the side of the road some miles back, and this car would have passed it, no one would have reason to think it was anymore out of the ordinary than an unlucky driver that ran out of gas on a rural road. He watched it pass him, and keep going without so much as a flash of a taillight. He grinned a little more to himself for his skill in stealth and escape. Without those, and Victoria's computer genius, he would be wasting away in prison, and he would hate to see what the baddest motherfucker on the cellblock thought of his chiseled good looks. His ass cheeks clenched together at the thought, and he shook the visual from the forefront of his imagination, replacing it with the sight of watching Alice and Bella making out in the bed of Bella's truck the night he had left Bella the rose. He chuckled to himself. _Whitlock was right about one thing: the bitch is a carpet muncher! _He let that irony entertain him the rest of the short distance to the gates.

The lights were off by now, as the timer cut them at eleven-thirty, and it was now almost one, but he pulled his hood up regardless, well aware of the security camera pointing down at the entrance to the larger-than-life mansion that lay ahead. He knew his form would be caught, and he knew they would know it was him, but if they didn't see his face, there was no concrete proof...

He reached up and flipped open the lid of the mail bin, not paying attention to the drainage gutter beneath the sole of his boot, or the fact that the grate that covered it was loose, nearly caving in on one side. _Tomorrow someone is going to see this, _he thought to himself with a zing running through his body with the thought. He closed the lid, and shifted his weight onto his foot to turn and leave, and the pressure pressed the grate aside, opening the gutter, allowing it to swallow his boot. His ankle took the impact of the sudden loss of ground, and he landed on it hard inside of the twelve-inch-deep underground trough. And to make matters worse, the edge of the metal grate caught his black jeans and tore them up the leg a little, cutting into his flesh below the fabric. "Shit!" he hissed to himself, using the wall to regain his balance before he fell back. Once he felt secure, he tried to lift his leg out of the trough, finding that the hard landing had wedged the wide sole of his boot into the narrow space.

"Are you fucking _kidding _me?" he growled, pulling hard, and nearly losing his balance again when the boot didn't budge. He quickly untied the knot, and unwound the strings to loosen the boot enough to slip his socked foot free, but then he kneeled on all fours in front of the opening to try and pull the boot out, as well. He couldn't leave something so incriminating... those were the boots he'd worn on several scenes, including Whitlock's car, parked in that mud along the side of the road in Texas. But no matter how well he gripped it, twisted, and pulled, the boot refused to budge. He sat up, throwing his hands in the air, and by habit tried to tug at hair he no longer had. "Fuck! _Fuck! _FUCK!" he screamed his frustration to the dark forest around the walls, and tried once more, fruitlessly, to remove his boot from its prison.

He heard the sound of tires coming again, this time with a roar of an engine that could only be from a large vehicle, and tried to melt into the side of the wall. He couldn't leave this spot until he had both boots on his feet, and the spot he was crouched in was far enough away from the road that a passing car's headlights wouldn't sweep across him, revealing his position. So he sat still, waiting for the car to pass before trying to get his boot again, only as the car approached, it seemed to be slowing down. His heart began to thump wildly in his chest as his watery blue eyes began to dart around, searching for an escape route, if he should have the need for one. But what made this predator's blood run cold was the sight of the top lights of a jacked up Jeep Wrangler, and the sound of the Emmett's yell from inside the cab as the headlights fell on a scared and cowering James, who could not overcome his shock enough to run.

**AlicePOV:**

"WHAT THE FUCK?"

I heard Emmett's roar, jerking me violently from a nice nap I was having on the way home from the airport. When I bolted upright in the passenger's seat and looked around, I couldn't get a grasp on what exactly was going on, I only heard the engine of the truck roar as loud as Emmett just had and then felt a jerk forward as Emmett clearly pressed the gas pedal as hard as he could, but then we came to a screeching halt, so hard that my entire body lifted from the seat and went against the seatbelt, and slammed back down on stopping. Had I not been buckled up, I would have easily gone through the windshield. Then the Jeep was in park, and Emmett was gone, the driver's side door left open to the night, and something in my head clicked with one word:

_James._

Fully awake and coherent now, I quickly unbuckled my seatbelt and transferred over to the driver's seat of Emmett's Jeep, scooting the seat up and putting my cell phone to my ear simultaneously. I gave a quick scan of the dark outside the open door as Rosalie's cell phone rang on the other end of the call I was putting through, and spotted Emmett's white dress shirt disappearing directly down the middle of the dark road. I shut the door, and put the gear stick into reverse. If James wanted a game of cat and mouse, I would give it to him... only not in the roles he'd intended.

"Where are you?" Rosalie said in an irate tone when she answered, but I didn't give her the chance to keep complaining about her impatience.

"Get Bella and get to the main house now, and check on Mom, Dad, and C.J.! That bastard was just now here, and Emmett and I are chasing him down. We're going to get him!"

My adrenaline was pumping now, and all I could think about was how free I would be after this bastard was a grease stain on this Washington road.

"What? Oh my fucking—Bella! That fucking psycho is out there!" Rosalie screeched to Bella. "I'm calling the cops, Alice, just in case he manages to get away from you guys... if they canvas, we'd have a good chance at catching the slimy fucker."

Everything important being said, we hung up our call, and I caught sight of Emmett ahead, locked in a physical fight with James, trying to get his arms around him to wrestle him down to the ground, making it impossible for me to run the son of a bitch down. I slammed on brakes, and had just shoved the parking brake down when I saw a flash of silver in James' hand glint madly in the beams of the headlights, and in the next half second, I saw him jab my big brother in the side quickly, two times. I was confused at first as to why Emmett suddenly let go of James, and why James was now free and fleeing to a parked Toyota that I had just noticed, and why when I looked back at Emmett, he was on his hands and knees in the middle of the road as that bastard got away again...

...Until I saw the bright colored patch of red spreading up the side of my brother's white shirt, and watched as my hero crashed to the ground.

**BellaPOV:**

The engine of my truck roared to life as Rosalie babbled on her cell phone to whatever dispatcher was on the other end of the line, and though she was sitting right beside me in the cab of my truck, all I could hear was her steadily rising tone, I couldn't distinguish individual words. She had said three things in the apartment that had shut down all other coherent thought process: "Alice", and "fucking psycho". Past that point, I was on autopilot as we careened down the mile long driveway to the closed iron gates. I hit the button on the remote clipped to my sun visor, and the gates motors sprang to life, creaking as the metal barrier squeaked apart and I inched my way through them as they opened, impatient and worried for Alice, not caring about breaking something to get to her.

Headlights appeared behind me as I screeched tires into the open roadway, and instinctively I knew that Esme was right behind us, as that had been the first thing Rosalie had done after Alice's phone call was to call her mother-in-law, checking on the occupants of the main house. I'd already had my keys in my hand and was half way out of the door before Rosalie was right beside me, then dialing the police.

I didn't need to ask her why she climbed into that cab. She was going for the same reason I was: her Cullen was out there.

Not thirty seconds into the drive, my beams fell on the taillights of Emmett's Jeep, parked nearly sideways in the road, the driver side door open, but no one in the vehicle. I slammed on brakes and swerved my truck to the side of the road, jamming the thing into park before practically falling out of the cab. The Jeep was still running, despite its apparent abandoned state, and it wasn't until I heard the cries for help from the other side of the monstrous vehicle that my heart left the pit of my stomach. That was Alice's voice.

I ran around the Jeep, and spotted Alice crouched over Emmett, whose face was scrunched up into a grimace, and Alice was shirtless, wearing her bra and a pair of black slacks in the rain, but she had her shirt balled up and pressed into a dark red stain at Emmett's side... "Oh no," I moaned, realization kicking in. "No." I fumbled for my phone, but Alice shook her head.

"I've already called them, just please come help me keep pressure on this!" she sobbed, giving me a pleading look. "It's still bleeding a lot, and I don't know how deep it is."

"I t-told you, it's f-fine, it's j-just a scratch," Emmett said through clenched teeth, opening his eyes enough to glare at his sister briefly before a loud gasp filled the silence after his growl, and his gaze fell on Rosalie, standing by the back of the Jeep with her mouth open in shock. He didn't say anything, but his chest heaved that much harder, and I saw the tears gather over his eyes.

She was kneeled beside him in a flash, knocking Alice and I both to the side, both of her long, doll-like hands pressed firmly against Alice's sacrificed chemise. His eyes did not close again, despite the effort it took him to keep them open when he was in pain like that, and they maintained their silent eye contact as I pulled Alice to me, and let her bury her face into my t-shirt. She was safe, and she was here in my arms, those were all good things... but one of my best buddies was lying on the ground, bleeding because of this psychopath obsessed with Alice, and obsessed with me. This had to stop, it had to end somewhere, and there was no time left to play this guy's game. He had breached territory, gotten past all defenses... It was time to finally get this guy, and make it final once we had him.

I tightened my arms around Alice, angling my face so I could press a kiss on top of her messy spikes, thankful in the most selfish of ways that it was not her in the puddle of blood on the pavement, but wishing like hell that it wasn't Emmett in her stead. I heard Esme's truck, and I closed my eyes at what her reaction to this was going to be, remembering all too well the way she had blown up that day on the way to the gym.

"NO!" Despite my efforts to steel myself for the inevitable from his mother, her anguished cry still was like searing pain to my heart, and I flinched at the same instant that Alice whimpered in response to her mother's voice.

"He's fine, Esme," Rosalie said in a firm, clear voice. Her light blue eyes did not trail away from the dark blue set into the boyishly handsome face of her husband. "Alice surely called the ambulance—didn't you?" Rosalie broke her gaze from Emmett long enough to fix my girlfriend with an accusatory glare, as if daring her to answer anything but an affirmative.

Alice had her mind enough to be affronted, pulling her tearstained face from the front of my t-shirt to glare back at her best friend. "Of course I did, what the hell is the matter with you? That's my brother!" she said in a low, hoarse voice, managing to sound harsh through her tears.

"All of y-you are g-going on about n-nothing," Emmett said from the ground, attempting to sit up, but Rosalie gave a firm push on his shoulder with one hand to keep him still.

"Don't move," she said, shaking her head. "You'll bleed that much more, and I think I have it somewhat under control."

Esme moved forward, her eyes wide and her hand over her mouth, to hide her quivering lip, I was sure. She slowly dropped to her knees when she reached her oldest child's side, and instead of trying to take over Rosalie's position, she reached for his hair, and began to run her fingers through his dark curls. "How big was the knife, son?" she asked in barely more than a whisper.

"I d-didn't see it," he panted, wincing a little, but managing to keep his mother's gaze. "D-didn't feel t-too big, d-didn't go d-deep. H-hurts like a b-bitch."

"Okay, that's enough," Rose said softly, and I looked away after that moment, because there was a tenderness to her voice that I'd never heard, and I felt like I was intruding.

Alice was huddled into me, but her head was tilted sideways, and she seemed to be concentrating on something. "I think I hear the ambulance," she said after a second, and I listened, but didn't hear anything at first. I didn't say so, and was glad, because it was then that I heard the faintest sound of the sirens.

"Nice ears, babe," I said with a dry chuckle, not at all amused with the situation.

"F-freak," Emmett said, attempting to be light-hearted, but Rosalie growled at him to be quiet, and he winced again, though I think it was more his wife's tone than the stab wounds inflicted to his side.

"Another news flash," Alice said angrily, pulling away from me to pace in the rain. "Guess who the creep at the club last night _really _was?"

"No way," I said automatically, taking a step back. It couldn't have been, I had speculated it, but it was so far-fetched that I had pushed it from my mind. How could he have the audacity to stroll into _La Lune Bleu _after all the shit that had happened since that night months ago? And then to make _physical contact _with my Alice, violating her the way he did, disrespecting her the way he did, in words and action? I felt my blood rise with anger at myself that I hadn't done more than punch him a few times, when I had been that close to him, and I reached up and touched my bruised eye, doubling the bubbling lava filling my gut.

"In-fucking-deed," she replied sourly, not ceasing the little path she was making in the beams of Emmett's Jeep. She seemed to disregard the fact that she wasn't wearing a shirt, and I started when I remembered the numerous hoodies accumulated behind the seat of my truck. I needed a moment alone to process that thought, anyway.

"I'll be right back, I am getting a sweat shirt for you," I said to her, turning around and walking briskly towards the truck in the dark. Esme had parked behind my truck, and also left on her emergency lights, which was more than I had thought to do.

James. He was slick, he was an idiot... he was a slick idiot. How did that even fucking _work? _He couldn't spell "girl", but he could slip into disguise and infiltrate things like a nasty, disease-ridden cockroach in the dark? What the fuck else did this guy get up to? Or did I even want to fucking _know? _

I found a decent smelling hoodie after two tries, the first smelling like gym shoes, and shut the driver's side door of the truck a little harder than necessary, lost in my internal rant on this piece of shit. I was still going on in my head when I came back around the Jeep to see headlights coming from down the road towards us, the tires slowing as they approached, and immediately recognized the unmarked squad car that squealed to jolting halt fifty feet from us, blue lights flickering madly in the dark. The driver's side door slung open and then Garrett appeared, running straight to his comrade. "I heard the call through dispatch and got here as fast as I could... I passed the ambulance it's on the way. What the fuck happened? Is it that motherfucker?"

"Y-you know it," Emmett grunted, and then I looked up to see the ambulance coming around the bend in the dark, followed by a fire truck, and yet another squad car.

"I am going to shoot that son of bitch on sight, fuck protocol," Garrett seethed, and I thought to myself how James had all of us wanting his life, even this happy-go-lucky cop that I had grown to really like.

The medics clamored over to Emmett with a stretcher and began to take his vitals as they loaded the giant man onto the narrow board, and Rosalie reluctantly loosened her grip on Emmett's make-shift tourniquet, and let the trained EMTs take over. Esme pulled her daughter-in-law into her embrace and held her, and I saw Rosalie's eyes fill with tears before she turned her face away from Emmett, as if she didn't want him to see what I saw. "Ride with him," Esme said to her, and Rose nodded, gently detaching herself from Esme. "I'll follow."

I looked at the tiny girl in my own arms, and she shook her head at my silent question. "I have to stay with C.J.," she said softly. "I don't like leaving him with Edward because I don't know when his phone is going to chime and he is going to just fucking evaporate."

"Then I'll stay with you," I whispered, and she tightened her grip around my waist.

"Okay," she said, pulling away from me, but not before giving me a soft kiss. "Mom?" she said then, catching Esme's attention. "Bella and I are going to stay in my room in the main house tonight. Is that all right?"

"Fine, sweetheart," Esme said distractedly, pulling her middle child to her and pressing a kiss to Alice's rain soaked raven locks. "I'll keep you updated. Try to get some rest, and I am going to ask Garrett to spend the night... I don't think he would come back tonight, after almost being caught, but I don't want to be too careless. I love you."

"I love you, too, Mom," Alice said, swallowing hard. "Stay calm, okay? Em doesn't need to see you or Rose freak out."

Esme nodded, then looked at me and opened her arms for one of her warm hugs. "Take care of my little girl," she whispered to me, and though I felt a sense of trepidation in her words and tone, I ignored it and just nodded.

"Of course, Esme. Always," I replied in a whisper, and she pulled back, laying a hand against my jaw.

"You're a darling girl, Isabella. Mary Alice chose her life-partner well."

My heart swelled then for this petite woman, who was the much older version of her beautiful daughter. It was the highest praise I had ever received. Then I watched her turn and make a slow trek over to Garrett, and after a brief exchange of words I couldn't hear, he nodded emphatically, and Esme stood up on her tip-toes to kiss Garrett's rough cheek.

Esme was being very strange... and I seemed to be the only one who really noticed.

**A/N: If this story is deleted, then I will be reposting it elsewhere, and I will be sure to let everyone know where it will be continued. Sorry for the wait, and this was originally intended to be longer, however I wanted to post this as my personal opinion of distaste at the censorship coming to light on FF. Plese read and sign the petion posted as chapter 19, and spread the word that FF admins have lost their Constitutional gourds.**

**FREEDOM OF SPEECH ISN'T JUST A SAYING!**


	21. Chapter 21

Hey guys... sorry if you thought this was an update, and I really hate to do it this way, but I owe you all an explanation, I feel...

I'm very sorry I dropped off the face of the planet for the last year. But in my own defense, it was not the best year of my life. Issues arose in Savannah that caused us to have to make the move back to Atlanta, so there was a big thing about that... I don't even want to get into what happened with the living arrangements once we were back, and all the drama and BS that ensued.

The biggest thing that happened over the last year was that in April, my mother was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. It had engulfed her pancreas completely, and had grown to her liver. Despite the estimate of four months to a year on her lifespan, she decided to try and fight it anyway, and underwent invitro chemotherapy treatments that ultimately made her even more sick than she was. The first time she went into the hospital for the side effects of the chemo was the Tuesday before Mother's Day here in the States, and I prayed that she would be out that Sunday for plans that I had made, but no... I spent Saturday night and all day and night Sunday there with her, watching Ghost Adventures and Ghost Hunters on my phone, half lying in a hospital bed with her.

She was in and out for several weeks, before the doctors placed her on hospice care, and she was brought home. She hung in there, she was stubborn only for us kids, me and my sister and brothers. I was terrified, and was dumb enough to let her know, and she struggled that much harder, suffered that much longer, just to be with us as long as she possibly could.

I was with her the day before she passed. It was a Saturday, and I had to work that night, but had driven up to her apartment anyway, just because I had a spare few hours before I was due in, and I sat with her for several hours that afternoon. She was almost completely unresponsive, so I didn't speak, just sat there for hours with her holding her hand, and taking in every feature of her hands and face that I could, seeing past her yellow complexion to my mommy beneath it. A friend of mine at work at had told me that when her mother was passing in the same manner as mine, she told her it was okay, that she didn't have to worry about her anymore, that she needed to go home... and I had kept that in my head for two weeks before that day beside her bed, holding her hand for what would be the last time.

That day, I leant close to her ear so that her husband would not hear and I said to her, "Mommy... we're okay. It's okay for you to go now, you've got other things to do... you've been brave, but MawMaw, PawPaw, and Aunt Becca are all waiting for you to throw you a party... you can go home, Mama."

I kissed her cheek, told her I loved her, and tried to stand to go before I lost my composure, but when I went to pull my hand free, she flexed her hand on mine, a silent request I not go, so I sat back down and dissolved into helpless sobs again... I tried not to do that in front of her, but if she didn't want me to go, I couldn't help it...

I wasn't late to work that night, and I fought through a busy, ugly shift with everything on my mind, and got off the next moring to get my paycheck and tell the boss I was headed up to my mom's after a nap.

I went to the grocery store with my best friend, and on the way home, my cell went off and I saw my mother's baby sister's name on my screen. I knew it had happened. I knew, and I didn't want to answer, so I sent her to voicemail. Then my stepfather's name popped up right behind it, and I ignored him, as well. Then he called my best friend. She answered, glanced at me, and said nothing but "yes", "okay", "uh huh", and "bye". When she hung up, I looked at her, my heart in my stomach, churning and making me sick.

"It happened, didn't it?" I asked.

"I need to you focus, man, you're driving... please just wait..." But she knew I knew.

That was July first.

I haven't been quite right since, and it all still feels surreal. So, please forgive me for leaving La Lune Bleu and Hide and Seek hanging, I'm not done... I'm just... crazy lol

BUT

I've been working on a Bellice OS the past few days, and it's almost done, if you're interested.

I'm doing better, so just give me time. I really apprecite the PMs and the reviews in my abscence, even if I didn't write back, you now know why.

With my amazing girlfriend, and my circle of loving friends showing such support and love, I am healing. And really, I guess that's what counts. Right?

My best,

A.S.R.


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